My Guardian Wolf
by Kexita
Summary: Kiba could never understand Hinata's strange attraction for Naruto, nor could he understand his own strange attraction for Hinata. Watch as Kiba tries to come to grips with his feelings, and cell 8 goes through missions, chuunin exams, and overall life.
1. Chapter 1

**My Guardian Wolf, Chapter I.**

Summary: Kiba could never understand Hinata's strange attraction for Naruto. Nor could he understand his own strange attraction for Hinata. Watch as Kiba tries to come to grips with his feelings, and team #8 faces missions, chuunin exams, and more.

Disclaimer: Rejoice, for I do not own Naruto! If I did, the anime would be so lame, no one would wanna watch it anymore! I only own this fanfiction! Steal it (though I don't know why you'd want to) and there will be trouble.

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Nine o' clock on a Thursday morning. Not even the faintest trace of cloud lingered in the sky; bad news for Nara Shikamaru. But he isn't important right now. Bright sunlight bathed the entire village of Konohagakure with pleasant warmth. Nearby, a small white puppy lay in the dirt, rolling about and enjoying the heat.

"Akamaru, your fur is going to get dirty..." A tough, yet playful voice called out to the young pup. Emitting a small whine, Akamaru scrambled on all fours and bound over to his master. Chuckling a bit, Kiba reached down to pull a bur off of his loyal companion. Casually flicking it aside, Kiba proceeded to stroll over to a nearby bridge, and await the arrival of his team. As usual, Kiba had shown up first. But this was done on purpose, for Kiba always enjoyed coming a few minutes early. It gave him precious time to savor the peace of the morning.

"I wonder what the mission is going to be today, eh Akamaru?" Kiba asked with a hint of eagerness. To someone who wasn't a shinobi; it might seem strange that Kiba carried out intelligent conversations with Akamaru. People just couldn't seem to understand that Kiba understood Akamaru perfectly; and visa versa. Come now, it's very important for ninjas to be able to communicate with their partners!

"Hopefully something good, we haven't seen any action for a long time." Kiba continued, watching Akamaru sniff a nearby tree. "I swear, if I have to baby-sit one more brat, or build one more fence, I'm going to go insane. Simple as that." He concluded. Akamaru barked in obvious agreement, taking a moment to paw at the ground.

"Yo."

With a small jump, Kiba whirled around to come face to face with Aburame Shino. _"How the hell did he sneak up on me like that?" _Kiba wondered, staring at his team mate for a moment.

"Mornin' Shino. You're...a bit early today, aren't you?" Kiba asked, slightly disappointed that he didn't get more time to himself.

"Oh, really? Hmm." Shino said, staring out into the open field. Or at least...that's what one would assume he was looking at. It's a bit hard to tell with those dark sun glasses. He never seemed to take them off. Not even in the dead of winter, when there was no sunlight at all. _"That's Shino for ya." Kiba thought, scratching at his nose. "Strange. Nice guy, but strange."_

A somewhat awkward silence fell upon the two boys. Kiba was always a bit unsure on what to say to Shino. Five minutes crept by...Then ten...Just as Kiba was about to take a hopeful stab at conversation, a small scuffling noise came from the distance. It sounded as though someone was shuffling their feet along. Kiba paused for a moment to sniff at the air.

"Hinata's coming." Kiba stated, not knowing what else to say. Shino nodded a bit to show that he had heard Kiba's remark. Silence returned. Kiba could practically see the, "..." bubble looming over his head, just like in the comic books. A couple moments later, shy little Hyuuga Hinata appeared before her two friends. She was wearing her usual beige sweatshirt, the one with the white fuzz at the bottom. She opened her mouth as if to say hello, then suddenly closed it as if afraid to speak. Making eye contact for only a second, she re-directed her silvery eyes to the ground and began to fidget. Kiba couldn't help it, he grinned at her shyness.

"Mornin' Hinata." He said pleasantly, giving her a friendly smile.

"Ah...ano ne...Ohaiyo Gozaimasu Kiba kun...Shino kun..." she said softly with a small bow. Shino inclined his head and returned the greeting, with his usual un-readable expression. Kiba frowned a bit.

"Hinata, I told you you don't need to be so formal with us. We've been on the same team for weeks now, haven't we?" he said with the small frown still on his face. Hinata saw it became a little flustered.

"Oh! I uh...y-yes. I'm sorry..." She mumbled, tapping her pointer fingers together and re-glueing her eyes to the ground.

"And stop saying sorry all the time, okay?" he added, offering up a smile to show he wasn't trying to be rude.

"Sorr-I mean yes. Okay Kiba-kun." She replied with a bit more confidence. Her fidgeting ceased, a good sign. It meant she was starting to relax a little.

"Kurenai sensei is late." Shino remarked, looking down the dirt road to see if she was coming. Of course, she wasn't. Kiba whiffed the air again. Nope, couldn't even smell her.

"Well damn. That's weird." Kiba said, raising one eyebrow in confusion. Kurenai was a fairly new Jounin, but it didn't mean she was irresponsible. Quite the opposite infact, she's usually quite organized. Being late wasn't her bad habit, it was Kakashi's.

"Um...I guess we wait it out?" Hinata tentatively asked, watching Akamaru bother Kiba for a belly scratch.

"I suppose so." Kiba replied, bending over to scratch Akamaru's belly. Akamaru gave a content sigh, tongue hanging out of his mouth. Some time passed, but no one was really quite sure how much. It felt like a half an hour, give or take a few minutes. Still, their Jounin instructor was still showing no signs of showing up. The only one who didn't seem bothered by this was Shino, who was watching Hinata. Her gaze was fixed upon Akamaru, who had long since abandoned his belly rub in favor of pawing at the grass. He seemed...bored somehow.

"You've been watching Akamaru for quite sometime now. Do you like dogs Hinata?" Kiba questioned as Hinata tore her eyes away from Akamaru.

"Oh! I uh...yes. That is to say, I do. Like dogs." She stammered, blushing at the way her remark sounded. She didn't mean for it to come out like that, it seemed a bit stupid to her. But if Kiba had noticed, he showed no signs of it. Instead, he gave another one of his famous wolfy grins.

"Really? Okay then. OI! Akamaru! C'mere!" He called over to his dog who had begun to dig a hole for no apparent reason, other than to relieve his boredom. With a small look of protest, he abandoned his precious hole and trotted over to where Kiba stood. "Go ahead Hinata, you can pet him. He won't bite." Kiba offered, watching his little pup. Akamaru tilted his head to the side as if to ask, "You called me over here just so your friend could pet me?"

Hinata's eyes lit up as she bent down to do just that. Slowly, she extended her petite hand to Akamaru. The pup responded by sniffing at the hand before him. He gave out a, "woof!" of approval, and licked at her hand. Hinata gave one of her sweet smiles, and contently scratched him behind his fuzzy white ears. Kiba folded his arms across his chest and gave a satisfied grin. Out of all the people Kiba had ever met, Hinata was the only one, (spare anyone in the Inuzuka clan) that Akamaru had warmed up to so quickly. True, Hinata was shy. But she seemed to have a way with animals, which really didn't surprise Kiba. Quiet people usually are. Or maybe it was something deeper. Perhaps it was the soft aura of kindness she always emitted.

"Ah, sorry everyone, sorry!" A feminine voice called out to the trio. Everyone's head snapped up at the noise. A slightly flustered Kurenai was dashing over to her group of genin with a clipboard in hand. "I didn't keep you all waiting too long, did I? I was running late this morning, I truly am sorry." she apologized, stopping before the group.

"Aw, don't sweat it Kurenai sensei. No one's perfect." Kiba shrugged. His casual shrug however, betrayed his feelings of curiosity. What could have possibly kept her? She seemed to be glowing somehow. Or maybe that she was just out of breathe. And...was that a _blush _that danced across her face? No no, surely she was just tired from running. Kurenai sensei does not _blush. _"Though if I may ask, what kept you? You seem different today."

"Anyway, it's seems as though we have another D-rank mission today..." Kurenai continued, blatantly ignoring Kiba's question. He scowled a bit. He didn't like being ignored, but he decided to not press his luck. If he pestered her with his questions, it meant 50 laps across the track. But of course, that was nothing compared to Gai's training. "Looks like...ah, sorry guys. You aren't gonna like this, but today you're washing dishes at Ichiraku Ramen shop. They seem to be short handed today..." Kurenai trailed off, watching her genin's reactions. Hinata gave a small sigh, (possibly of relief?) Shino seemed un-affected of course, and Kiba gave out a long, dramatic out howl of agony.

"No! Please! No more dishes! Ahh...why can't we get some action for a change!" Kiba complained, picking up Akamaru and setting him on top of his head. Kurenai frowned slightly, and that's all it took for Kiba to shut up. He wasn't willing to try Kurenai sensei's patience today. "Right. Dishes. No problem sensei." he said with a false, cheery smile. Sheepishly, he rubbed the back of his head as the team began to trudge off to the ramen shop.

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"A-ano ne? Excuse me...sir?" Hinata asked timidly, doing her classic fore finger fidget. "We need gloves if we are to begin..." she quietly mumbled, seeming embarrassed for not knowing where the gloves we're in the first place.

"Eh? Oh right! Sure. Left drawer by the sink. Now get to work, will ya?" said a random employee of Ichiraku Ramen, shooing her off into the kitchen. Upon her return, Hinata wordlessly opened the drawer and handed out the slightly worn gloves. With a sigh, everyone slipped on a pair and began the painstaking task of washing a countless amount of bowls. Time crept away, painfully slow. Kiba could have sworn that time was slowing down on purpose, just to mock him. Ten o clock faded into eleven, eleven faded into noon, and still they never seemed to make any real progress. Every time a tall stack of dirty bowls was finished, a fresh new pile took its place. Everyone's minds had long since gone onto autopilot, occasionally snapping out of it to switch positions. This mission...it was tedious. It was repetitive. It was exhausting. But most of all, it was...

"Boring..." Kiba grumbled with an exasperated sigh. "How long have we been at this now?" he asked, tossing aside yet another clean bowl. Hinata wasting no time in snatching is up to dry it off.

"Ano...three hours I think?" Hinata guessed, pausing for a moment to wipe the sweat off her forehead.

"Three hours, twenty three minutes, and fifty four seconds actually." Shino corrected, taking the bowl from Hinata to put it away. Kiba blinked, and exchanged a confused look with Hinata.

"Shino, how did you know that?" Kiba questioned, giving his friend a somewhat odd look.

"It's called a watch."

"Oh. Right. Gotcha."

"Well...I'm sure we're almost done..." Hinata tried to comfort everyone. "They can't keep up after six anyway. At least things can't get worse, right?" Hinata said, trying in vain to lighten the dreary atmosphere.

Wrong!

"OI! You're all so slow! C'mon! Hurry up! I'm starving!" A loud voice rang through Ichiraku Ramen. It was indeed, so loud, that even our three little genin stuck back in the kitchen could hear it. Hinata immediately perked up, listening intently.

"Oh no...don't tell me..." Kiba moaned, putting a finger to his temple. Akamaru whined in sympathy.

"Must you be so noisy! You're causing a scene!" A female voice rebuked. A brief pause of silence, and a screech pierced through the air.

"Ow! Itai! Sakura-chan, what did you do that for!" Naruto whined, apparently in a great deal of pain.

"She already told you you were making a scene, dobe." A cold and sarcastic voice responded.

"AH! What did you say teme! I swear, I'll-OW!" Naruto's remark was cut off, and replaced with three separate grunts of pain from Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto.

"Okay, all three of you. Quiet." Kakashi hissed, casting them all a disapproving glance. "I only agreed to treat you if you promised to behave. AH hah hah, pay no attention to my three idiot students!" He called out cheerfully to the people who had been gawking. "I haven't fed them today, and they're just getting cranky. That's all. Okay seriously, eat your ramen folks." He finished his announcement with a coy smile.

"Spoke too soon I think, Hinata." Shino remarked as he reached for another bowl to scrub. If Kiba wasn't bound by duty, he would have surely ran far, far away by now. Since this was impossible, he settled for groaning in irritation and massaging his sore temples.

"Ah...headache...I can feel it coming..." Kiba muttered, fumbling with his pouch in search of medicine. Hinata, he noticed, seemed to have not heard either of them. Rather she had abandoned her work and was now eagerly peeking out the kitchen window in hopes of catching a brief glance at Naruto. Her cheeks were tinted pink, and a playful smile frolicked around her face. It somewhat...annoyed Kiba. He and Shino always tried their best to be kind to Hinata, and smiles were still rare and few from her. And yet, that annoying nine tailed brat just had to open his huge mouth and declare his hunger like an idiot? _"I will _never _understand what Hinata sees in that loser." Kiba thought silently. _He then scowled, practically throwing his bowl into the sink. It landed with a loud "clink!" and threatened to crack. Thankfully, it didn't. That wouldn't be good to the stupid mission they were forced to be on. Sighing, Kiba resumed his work while trying to block out the lively activity around him.

"Oh...Naruto kun...You're going to get sick if you eat so much..." Hinata whispered to herself as she watched him eat. Shino noticed she did have a rather valid point. Naruto was already almost done with his 3rd bowl, and seemed eager to start a 4th. The clerk was already grinning from ear to ear, and greedily rubbing his hands together. The look on Kakashi's face clearly stated his regret for agreeing to pay the bill.

"Ick, how can you eat so much Naruto!" Sakura asked in disgust, pushing aside her half finished bowl. It seemed she was on another un-necessary diet. "It's baffling, isn't it Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked in her cute, fangirly voice reserved only for Sasuke.

"Hn. Gluttony, pure gluttony." He replied with a look of annoyance at Naruto.

"HAH! Shows how hard _you've _worked today, Sasuke teme. I'm only so hungry because I fought really hard!" Naruto declared proudly, with a large smile. "Yep, I gotta keep my strength up! One bowl just won't do it!" he grinned, noisily slurping up more of his noodles. Sasuke merely glared in response and demanded another serving of ramen.

"Ah...he took the bait." Kakashi mumbled with concern. "Hey, hey you two! Let's not have another repeat of our A-ranked mission, _please?_" Kakashi pleaded, watching the boys start another one of their pointless eating competitions. "Come on, your just gonna throw it all up _again_. Be nice to my poor wallet." he continued, trying in vain to make them slow down. Too late, neither of the boys were paying any attention to Kakashi. "Okay fine. Make yourselves sick. I don't care. But don't expect any mercy during training tomorrow when you wake up feeling ill." he warned, throwing up his hands in defeat.

"A...ano...I uh..." Hinata sputtered, backing away from the window looking slightly horrified.

"What? What is it?" Kiba questioned, looking out the window to see what had gotten Hinata so stirred up. "Oh. Damn..." he whispered in awe, as he too proceeded to back away from the window. Naruto had already finished his 6th bowl, and Sasuke was starting up on his 4th. Neither showed any signs of backing down. So that made...ten bowls. Plus Kakashi's and Sakura's made 12. Not to mention the fact that a disgustingly huge crowd had been drawn in to Ichiraku to watch the competition going on. And _they _all seemed intent on buying a bowl...plus the amount of people that had been there before this whole mess had started...that was...how many bowls for them to clean up afterwards?

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"Okay...I...I think that's the last one..." Kiba panted, handing Shino one final bowl to dry off. He accepted it with a grunt. After a few quick, half-hearted swipes of drying, he thrust the bowl over to Hinata. Wiping her face with a drying rag, she took hold of it and set it in the bin of clean bowls. The little "battle of the ramen" between Naruto and Sasuke had not ended well for Kurenai's cell. Naruto ended up scarfing down twelve bowls before he, as Kakashi predicted, regurgitated it all over the floor. That emptied up his stomach quite nicely, and he ate five more before throwing those up too. Six bowls later, Sasuke had followed suit, and Kakashi had to cut them off before he ran out of cash. Lord only knew how many bowls of ramen the crowd that had been watching the fight ate, plus the people before them. After Kakashi reluctantly paid the hefty sum, Cell #8 was left with a _terrible _amount of work.

"Alright! You guys are outta here!" The clerk called out in a cheery voice. "You did a great job today, we made so much money..." he cackled, counting the money in the register for the 3rd time." If we're ever short-handed again, I'll personally request your team!" he said brightly, shutting the register and preparing the shop for closing time.

"NO! wait! D-mmf!" Kiba had started to shout, but Shino covered his mouth before he allowed Kiba to finish his stupid remark.

"Thank you sir." Shino called out, releasing Kiba before he decided to stomp down on his foot.

"Ah, Goodbye sir!" Hinata also called out with a courteous bow that the clerk didn't see. If they weren't so depleted of energy, they were sure they would have positively bolted out of that ramen shop. They settled for a tired scuffle instead. No one spoke until they had returned to the place where they first met up that morning.

"I...never wanna see another bowl of ramen...as long as I live..." Kiba declared, leaning against the bridge for support. Akamaru whined to be taken off of Kiba's head. Kiba was too tired to oblige. Shino furiously nodded his head in agreement, accidentally knocking a few bugs off his head. Hinata said nothing, but rather walked over to Kiba to remove Akamaru for him. Gently, she pulled Kiba's hood down, and picked up the little pup into her arms. Kiba twitched slightly upon realizing how close their faces had just gotten. After setting him down, Akamaru gave a "woof" of appreciation before running off the relieve himself. Cell #8 spoke no more after that. The sun was starting to set, which showed how late they had actually been working. Large, pink and red clouds lazily drifted across the sky, announcing to all that it was time to go home. Off in the distance, a lost crow called out, looking for his flock. Evening cicada's melodies soon rang across the forest, soothing animals into a slumber. Kiba stifled a yawn, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere around them.

"Well then...I supposed ill be heading home now. See you all tomorrow. Goodbye." Shino said to his friends as he began walking down the dirt path.

"Ah, Ja ne Shino kun!" Hinata called after him, watching him slowly disappear from sight. Kiba repeated the farewell before stretching his arms high over his head. The sound of the cicada's was starting to make him sleepy, and eager to return home. Akamaru walked up to Kiba and pawed at his leg, indicating that he too was ready to go home. Hinata opened her mouth and yawned loudly. She rubbed at her eyes, also becoming sleepy and longing for the comfort of her bed.

"You did well today Kiba-kun..." Hinata complimented with a sweet smile. "I too, am going home now. I'll see you later" she mumbled in a pleasant tone. With one final little bow, she turned around and began to trek home. Akamaru whined, and acted as though he wanted to follow. Kiba frowned for a moment. For some reason, he felt sad to watch her go. He wanted to enjoy the evening just a little longer with his team mates, especially after such a hard day of work. It just made it that much more enjoyable

"Hinata, wait. I'll walk you home!" Kiba shouted before he realized what he had said. Hinata stopped abruptly and turned around, her eyes slightly wide from the unusual offer. She stared for a moment, then blushed when she realized she was being rude. Akamaru barked, and dashed after Hinata. He pawed at her pant leg as if to ask, "Scratch my ears for me?" Hinata's eyes lit up again as she leaned over to oblige.

"T-thank you Kiba-kun. I-I would be g-glad for the company..." she stuttered, still not quite over the shock. He gave another wolfish grin, and walked over to accompany the shy girl home. _"What possessed you to offer that?" a voice sneered in Kiba's head. _He ignored it for the time being, content to just be walking with his team mate. They walked in silence, though it was not an awkward one. Upon reaching her home, Hinata bade Kiba farewell and closed the door softly behind her. Kiba stood there for a moment, before whirling around to begin his trek home. Walking Hinata home had made him late, and he didn't want to worry his parents. With a sigh, he put Akamaru on his head and began to trudge home.

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A/N: omg, I'm an _author! _A poor one, but an author none the less! I can write author's notes now! Squee! Anyway, incase you we're wondering, this is my first story. I'm worried that this chapter was slow moving and boring. Hopefully it will get better later. They say experience is the best teacher. Most people I talk to don't much like the kiba/hina pairing. I don't understand why, I think it's adorable. Kiba's almost as loud and over confident as Naruto anyway. Anyway, I'm not going to beg for you to review or anything, but it really does only take a few minutes. okies, I hope to see you all in chapter two! Oh, and here are the definitions of the Japanese words I used earlier:

Ano ne: Umm…

Ohaiyo Gozaimasu: Good morning. (polite form)

Itai: Ow!

Ja ne: See you!


	2. Chapter 2

**My Guardian Wolf, Chapter II.**

Disclaimer: Celebrate, for I STILL do not own Naruto or any of its characters! If I did, the manga quality would be so incredibly low, that no one would want to read it anymore! I only own this fanfiction! Steal it, (though I don't know why you'd want to) and ill send my legion of undead penguins to peck out your eyeballs!

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"What do you _mean _you've got other business to take care of!"

Today certainly wasn't going to be like yesterday. Instead of a bright cloudless sky, team #8 was greeted with hazy, overcast weather. Also, everyone was on time today. In fact, when Kiba had shown up thinking he was _early, _everyone one else had already arrived. But perhaps the most significant difference was, today they weren't getting another lousy D-rank mission.

"I mean I have to be in another place, doing other things that do not involve taking you guys on a mission today." Kurenai replied, checking to make sure she had re-stocked her kunai pouch this morning. "I'm sorry, but I have to go on an A-rank mission today, and I certainly can't take you all with me. All you have to do today is train on your own. Don't worry, things will be back to normal tomorrow." she comforted, turning around to take her leave.

When Kiba's look of deep disappointment didn't dissapear, she tried another, more effective approach. "Okay, I could have always let you guys train with Gai sensei today! He would have been happy to let you on his team for the day! He always loves to get more youths to whip into shape!" She offered in a bright tone. Kurenai immediately got her desired reaction.

"NO! Oh god no, NO. Its okay, we can train by ourselves. Not a problem." Kiba laughed nervously, running a hand through his messy hair. His insides had done nothing less than turn into stone at the thought of training with Gai sensei. Even Shino who normally was able to keep his cool about these things seemed repulsed with the idea. Hinata was silent, weighing the choices together in her head.

"Good. Practice kunai throwing; maybe run some laps...and if you slack I'll know." Kurenai said with a large, cheery smile that didn't conceal the warning in her message. "See ya later then!" she waved, heading back to her house to make some last minute preparations. The team was silent for a moment, unsure of how to begin, what to do first, or even what to say. Shino was the first to break the awkward silence.

"Well, at least it beats washing bowls in a ramen shop, right?" he pointed out, watching one of his bugs crawl up his arm.

"Yes. And it definitely beats training with Gai." Kiba agreed, as the bug dissapeared under Shino's sleeve.

"Ano...what should we do first?" Hinata asked, looking first at Shino, then at Kiba. "I...I wouldn't mind throwing kunai first, I need some practice at tha-"

"Well, see you guys later." Shino cut her off, turning around and walking away. Kiba thought he was joking at first, but when he didn't stop walking he called out to his friend.

"Hey! W-wait! What are you talking about! You can't just go, we have to train!" Kiba protested, watching Shino leave with a baffled expression.

"K-Kurenai sensei would be furious. Please, Shino wait, come back...We don't want you to get in trouble...!" Hinata pleaded, fidgeting with the strings on her sweatshirt.

"...But I _am _going to train." he replied simply, continuing to walk away from Hinata and Kiba. Kiba's expression changed from bafflement to curiosity.

"But then why don't you just train with us!" Hinata asked, taking a step forward like she wanted to stop him. "We're supposed to be a team right?" Shino stopped, and turned around to face his friends.

"Yes. We are a team. And the reason I'm not training with you two is because my father wants to show me a new jutsu today." he elaborated, as if it was something obvious. "He told me that if I ever get the day off, to come back home so he can teach me. And that has happened today. So...I'll see you tomorrow." He finished, turning around to go home. Hinata and Kiba merely remained silent for a moment, trying to fathom what just happened.

"A...ano...you could have just...told us that in the beginning Shino kun..." Hinata whispered, even though she knew he couldn't possibly hear her anymore. Kiba shrugged and shook his head. _"I will never understand that guy..." _he thought to himself, scratching the back of his head.

"So...uh...Hinata...you said you wanted to practice throwing kunai right?" Kiba asked, watching his shy friend fidget still with her hoodie strings.

"Ah, y-yes…"

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_Thunk!_

A sharp, silvery kunai whizzed through the air and was united dead on with it's target.

"Yes! Perfect shot, first try!" Kiba cheered, walking over to the dummy to extract his weapon. It had hit the dummy in the center of his gut, just like he had hoped for. When Kiba backed away from the dummy, Hinata chucked a kunai of her own at the heart of the target. It veered slightly to the left, and landed square in the ribcage.

"Nice shot!" Kiba exclaimed, watching Hinata's face fall.

"N-no...it wasn't. I was aiming for his heart." she said sadly, looking crestfallen even though it was just her first try.

"Oh, well it was still a nice clean hit. Try again." Kiba encouraged, handing her another kunai. She threw this one too, and it landed just below its mark. Hinata bowed her head.

"Come on, don't give up yet, it was only your second try." Kiba said, giving her a quick pat on the back and handing her another kunai. With a determined look, she cocked her arm back and hurled it towards the dummy. It appeared as though it was going to hit its mark, but veered up at the last second and caught the dummy in the shoulder. Kiba wordlessly handed her another one of the blades as she frowned in disappointment. She grabbed this one too, and tossed it as hard as she could. Another miss. Kiba continued to supply Hinata with kunai as she continued to just barely miss her mark. After the 11th kunai hit the dummy in the nose, Hinata seemed close to tears. Kiba frowned; her expression grabbed at his heart and gave it a tight squeeze. Her sad face made him almost as depressed as she felt. She was just about to throw her 12th kunai before Kiba suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist. Hinata jumped, startled, and froze.

"Hinata, you're holding it wrong." Kiba remarked, using his other hand to re-position her fingers. "Your pinky isn't supposed to curl around the bottom, move it up the shaft…" he explained, guiding it to the proper spot. Once her hand clutched its weapon correctly, Kiba gave Hinata's hand a quick squeeze of encouragement and released it. "Okay, now try again." He instructed, noticing Hinata's strange expression. She paused for a moment, before nodding and hurling it at the dummy.

_Thunk!_

The kunai hit its target perfectly with a long, residing thunk. It was the most beautiful sound Hinata had heard that day. Her frown quickly perked up into a shy smile, and she whirled around excitedly to face Kiba.

"K-Kiba kun! Look! I got it!" she squeaked, pulling another kunai out of her pouch. She threw this one too, and another one after that. In fact, she continued throwing kunai until both her and Kiba's pouches were completely empty. Everyone one hit its mark perfectly, and every success made her more delighted. Kiba couldn't help it, he grinned too. It exceedingly rare to see her get this excited; it was an amusing thing to see. In the end, she was smiling ear to ear; a grin that could have even rivaled that of Naruto's. Kiba wished he could see that smile everyday, or at least more often than once in a blue moon. Hinata looked so much prettier when she smiled…

"Kiba! T-thank you so much for your assistance!" she said breathlessly, bowing her head in gratitude. Throwing so many kunai had given her a good work out, and she obviously needed to catch her breathe. Kiba approached Hinata, and gave her several pats on the back.

"I hardly did anything Hinata. You had the skill; you just didn't hold your kunai correctly. You did well." He complimented, ceasing his patting and walking over to the dummy. If the poor thing could have talked, he probably wouldn't say a word since Hinata had killed him several times over. Not to mentioned severed his voice box, punctured his stomach, and broken all of his ribs. Kiba reached out, and began to extract the blades from the dummy. Hinata soon followed, and helped him with the task. After all the kunai had been retrieved, they threw them all into a pile and sat down.

"Err…which ones are yours?" Kiba asked, looking at the pile of kunai. They all seemed to be identical, so it probably didn't matter.

"Um…this one. And this one…Oh, and that one too…" Hinata trailed off, reaching into the mess and pulling some of them out. Kiba gave a look of mild surprise. He didn't actually expect her to know which ones we're hers.

"Hinata, how can you tell which ones are yours? They all look the same…" Kiba questioned, as Hinata continued to gather up her weapons.

"Oh! I um…I mark mine." She said, seeming slightly embarrassed for some reason. "I-is that strange…? I mean, like you said…they all look the same…so it probably doesn't matter…" she mumbled, tucking away a few more of her kunai. Kiba decided to say something before she started frowning again.

"No no! It's fine, I was just curious is all. I'm wrong, they actually aren't all the same. Yours could be newer than mine…" he said in a slightly rushed tone, as if he couldn't get the sentence out fast enough. He reached out and inspected one of the kunai in the pile. It didn't seem to have any special mark on it, so he assumed it was his and tucked it away. The two young genin silently claimed their respective kunai, and stood up to continue their training. Akamaru looked at his partner, then to Hinata, and gave out a bored bark. He seemed to say, "I want to train too you know!" Hinata mistook this bark as a plea for attention, and she walked over to scratch his ears for him. Granted, Akamaru didn't get what he wanted, but he wasn't going to refuse a good ear scratching. The two remained quiet for a moment, thinking of what they could do next. Kiba didn't really want to run any laps, and he didn't feel much up to sparring either. Hinata was just so fragile and delicate looking. He didn't want to risk hurting her, even a little. That left them both with very few options. _"We could always practice our jutsus…." _Kiba mused, watching Akamaru and Hinata. They seemed content for the time being. Hinata stopped scratching his ears, and was watching him sniff the ground. Akamaru seemed pretty focused, as if searching for something buried deep in the earth. Eventually, he stopped under a tree and began to furiously dig…

"OH! I know! Yeah!" Kiba exclaimed, breaking the silence that had fallen upon them. Akamaru stopped digging, and Hinata looked up to see what her friend had to say. "Hinata, c'mere." He beckoned, reaching into his pocket. When his hand emerged, it was clutching an old, slightly tattered piece of white cloth. Hinata gave him a timid, questioning look. Kiba merely smiled, and approached Hinata. Folding the cloth a little, he proceeded to blindfold the shy kunoichi. She immediately tensed up, obviously not used to the human contact, or the lack of sight.

"A-ano….K-Kiba kun…what are you…?" Hinata stuttered, reaching up to touch the blindfold. "I...I can't s-see…"

"That's the point Hinata. I'm going to train you to use your nose." He explained, grabbing her hand and leading her to the center of the training grounds. She could feel her face growing flushed; no one had ever held her hand before. Not since she was disowned so long ago and forced to live on her own. Akamaru gave Kiba a look that could have been that of disgust. He glared at Kiba as if to say, "Are you stupid or something? Why would she need to learn that?" Kiba chose to ignore his dog's look of protest for the time being.

"Granted, you're not of the Inuzuka clan, so I doubt you could get a nose like me or Akamaru, but still. It'll be fun." Kiba said, stopping once they had reached their destination. Hinata didn't seem to think so. She reached up to touch the blindfold again, as if to take it off this time.

"B-but Kiba-kun…I…I don't much use my nose…" Hinata argued, fumbling with the knot in the back. "I..I have my Byakugan, and t-then I can see anything…I-ah!" Hinata cut off, as Kiba grabbed her hands to stop her from untying the knot.

"While it's true your Byakugan can see anything, it uses a significant amount of chakra doesn't it?" Kiba asked, moving her hands away and re-tightening the knot. "If you were ever in a bad situation where you didn't have enough chakra to utilize the Byakugan, what would you do?" Kiba questioned, finishing up the knot. Hinata merely gave him a worried and anxious look. Her sharpest sense had been cut off, and she felt extremely exposed to danger. She fidgeted harder, obviously discomforted. "You don't use chakra to smell, so it's a very valuable skill to possess." Kiba added upon noticing the pained look on her face. When her anxious look didn't vanish, he put two comforting hands on her shoulders. She jumped a little bit, only feeling more flustered with the whole situation. "Look, it's going to be okay. There aren't any enemies in the training grounds, and I'm not going to let you get lost." Kiba said in what he hoped was a warm and comforting voice. Akamaru came up to Hinata and nuzzled his nose into her ankle. "And neither will Akamaru. Trust me Hinata, it'll be okay." He said firmly, and Akamaru barked in agreement. Hinata said nothing, pondering the situation. Kiba did have a valid point; the Byakugan can be quite tiring after awhile. And he did promise he wouldn't let her get lost didn't he? Not to mention she would have Akamaru too…

"O-okay Kiba kun…I trust you…" Hinata said softly, gradually relaxing her tense shoulders. Akamaru yipped happily, and began to wriggle in anticipation for the training exercise. Kiba gave Hinata's shoulders a little comforting squeeze, and released her.

"Okay, this is how it's going to work." Kiba began, bending down and scooping Akamaru up in his arms. "I'm going to let you smell Akamaru. You aren't allergic to dogs are you?" Kiba asked, even though he already knew the answer. Hinata shook her head. "Okay. Once you've done that, I'm going to let Akamaru go. He isn't going to go farther than a few yards of the training ground. It will then be your job to find him." Kiba said, patting Akamaru on the head. "Obviously, you won't be able to find him on scent alone, so you're going to have to listen for him too. Understand?" he asked, handing Akamaru to Hinata. She looked unsure for a moment, then slowly nodded her head. Tentatively, she put her nose to Akamaru and took a small sniff. Kiba grinned at her. "You're going to need to get a better whiff than that!" Kiba teased, pushing her head into his fur. She gave a startled squeak, but managed to get a much better idea of Akamaru's scent.

"Mmph! Okay, I got it." She murmured, setting Akamaru down on the ground. He emitted a loud, "yip!" before scrambling off in some unknown direction. Hinata was silent. She looked around a bit, even though she couldn't see anything. Another pause and she began to fidget. She knew what she had to do, she just felt very reluctant to do it. Hesitantly, she crouched on all fours and tentatively sniffed at the ground. A small blush sprang up on her face from embarrassment; she must have looked ridiculous. Kiba had to use every bit of self control he possessed to not laugh. To him, she looked like a shy puppy who had never touched the grass before.

"Uhm…K-Kiba kun?" Hinata stammered, still sniffing at the ground. "I…I can't smell anything but dirt…" she mumbled, her blush deepening with her embarrassment. Kiba nodded, it was basically what he expected.

"Put your ear to the ground, and see if you can't hear him trotting around somewhere." Kiba offered, watching her do just that. A few moments passed. "Anything?" he asked.

"N-no. I think Akamaru is standing very still…" she said, looking lost. "I-I don't know what to d-"

"AKAMARU! Come back!" Kiba yelled, looking around for his pup. A few minutes later, a confused looking Akamaru bounded out of the forest. He tilted his head to the right as if to ask, "What? What's wrong?" Kiba gestured to Hinata to stand up. When he realized she couldn't see him, he verbally stated his request. Picking up Akamaru, he approached Hinata who was now dusting herself off.

"I-I'm sorry K-Kiba kun…" Hinata faltered, bowing her head. "I couldn't smell him at all, I-"

"Naw, it's okay. It's my fault. I forgot that a regular human nose isn't as strong one born to the Inuzuka clan. Sorry if I made ya uncomfortable." Kiba apologized, fumbling for something inside his pouch.

"W-well, what are we going to do now..?" she asked, reaching up to take off the blindfold again.

"No no, wait! Don't take it off!" Kiba ordered. Hinata stopped, and tilted her head to the side like Akamaru did when he was curious. "Since you can't smell him, we're just gonna have to increase the scent!" Kiba said brightly, pulling out a water bottle. Before Hinata had the chance to ask how he was going to do that, she heard the sound of water hitting the ground, and Akamaru barking loudly in obvious protest. "Wet dogs smell stronger." Kiba grinned, handing a squirming Akamaru to Hinata. She looked stunned for a moment, and then gave out a small laugh. She would have liked to see Akamaru. He must have looked silly, with his shaggy hair all wet and floppy. She brought Akamaru up to her, and gave him a quick sniff. Wrinkling her nose a bit, she gave Akamaru a small kiss on the nose before setting him down. Akamaru stayed a moment to glare at Kiba before bounding off into the forest again. More sure of herself this time, Hinata got back on all fours and sniffed the ground.

"Well…? Do you smell him now? I can always call him back here and soak him a little more." Kiba offered, amusement in his voice.

"Ano…I can smell him a little…" Hinata replied, feeling the ground beneath her. "A-and I can feel that the ground is wet. So…I'm going to f-follow the water…" she decided, still touching the ground around her. Kiba grinned. He didn't expect her to think of that. Somewhat awkwardly, Hinata pawed at the ground while trying to follow the trail of water. Not used to walking on all fours like Kiba she stumbled, and then toppled over. Kiba had to stop himself from laughing again. Her clumsiness was cute. After a few more shaky steps, she began to follow the damp trail Akamaru had led into the forest. Kiba followed her a couple spaces behind to make sure she didn't get lost…or hit her head in another act of clumsiness. A few minutes passed, and Hinata suddenly stopped her awkward puppy crawl.

"Ah...there's no more water…" she whispered to herself. Catching the remark with his sharp hearing, Kiba shouted, "See if you can smell him then!" Hinata put her nose to the ground to try. Her eyes widened a little bit in shock. "O-oh! I-I can! Just a little, but I can!" she exclaimed, looking excited again at her simple success. She continued her shaky stumbles, following whatever trail it was she was smelling. A few paces later, she pounced upon a nearby bush. When her hands came out, she was holding up a very wet, very grumpy looking Akamaru. He grunted a little, then wriggled away from her grasp. He shook his entire body to rid himself of the water that Kiba had poured all over him, getting Hinata and Kiba wet. Kiba laughed at his grumpy little dog.

"Alright! See? You could do it. Good job!" he praised, offering a hand to help her get up. She accepted, then proceeded to dust herself off.

"Heh…that was…kinda fun…." Hinata smiled, reaching up yet again to take off her blindfold.

"Wait, let's try one more thing before we stop for the day." Kiba insisted, watching Akamaru continue his puppy glare of doom. Kiba snorted in response. "Akamaru, stop being such a baby" Kiba teased, as Akamaru gave out a defiant sort of bark.

"Uh…um well…w-what's next then?"

"You're going to try and find me."

"Ehh! B-but I don't know if I can…"

"I smell a lot stronger than a normal human does, so it's probably not as hard as you think." Kiba said simply, noticing that Hinata began to fidget yet again. "…I could always go jump in the river for ya, though I don't think it will have much of an effect." Kiba joked, trying to get Hinata to laugh. She offered a small smile instead.

"O-okay Kiba Kun…" Hinata murmured, though her fidgeting didn't cease. "Ill g-give it a try…"

"Good. Don't' worry, it'll be fine. Akamaru will be following you the whole time, so if your about to hit something he'll bark." Kiba assured. "He won't let you hurt yourself, will you Akamaru?" Kiba asked his loyal companion. Akamaru yipped in agreement, walking up to Hinata and laying down at her feet. Somewhat re-assured, she nodded her head. Kiba approached her towards the center of the training grounds, and stopped directly in front of her. Hinata froze as if unsure what to do, then bowed her head.

"K-Kiba kun…." She stuttered.

"What?"

"Where…where am I supposed to…?"

"OH! Right!" Kiba laughed, offering Hinata his arm. "There, you can smell my sleeve." He said, as she slowly reached out to take it. She hesitated, then buried her nose into his arm and inhaled. "What so I smell like?" Kiba asked as she lifted her head up.

"K-kinda like Akamaru…" she muttered, quickly releasing his arm. Kiba didn't stick around for the response though. When she let go of his sleeve, he immediately bolted away into the forest. He decided not to go as far as Akamaru did, and not to hide in a bush. Rather he stopped and leaned coolly against a nearby tree. He might be easier to smell out in the open, as opposed to being concealed in a bush. He also decided to drag his jacket at the last minute as he left, to leave some kind of a trail. It all seemed to have happened very fast for Hinata, who stood there in a daze after hearing his running steps vanish.

"K-Kiba kun…?" Hinata called out, feeling very alone and exposed. She received no response, other than a slight nudge from Akamaru. He whined as if to say, "Don't worry, I'm still here! Let's go find Kiba." Hinata patted him on the head, and awkwardly crouched down on all fours again. She took a quick sniff at the ground, eager for the exercise to be over. She inhaled too fast, and ended up getting dirt in her nose. Hinata wrinkled her nose, and let out a sneeze a few seconds later. Shaking her head, she leaned her head down to try again.

"Hey…I can smell him a little!" Hinata exclaimed, more to herself than Akamaru. Akamaru responded with a small woof of encouragement. Slowly, she tried to use her nose to follow the trail Kiba had left for her. It was extremely difficult at first; she didn't have any water to follow this time and she kept getting dirt up her nose from sniffing too hard. She wanted this training to be over with quickly. Eventually after puppy-crawling a few yards, she stopped for a minute to blow her nose on a little red cloth she kept in her pouch. She tried to continue, when she realized that she couldn't smell anything anymore. If her eyes we're open, she would have blinked in confusion. "Oh…Akamaru, I think I've l-lost Kiba kun…" she said sadly, sniffing a few more directions just to be sure. Nope, nothing. However, Hinata hadn't really lost Kiba; she just couldn't smell him anymore. This was for two reasons. The first one being, she had gotten too much dirt up her nose, it was feeling dull even after blowing it. A normal human nose can only take so much before it will refuse to work properly. The second reason being, she was directly below Kiba. Yes, she had crawled right up to his feet, and didn't even realize it. She had almost found her target right before her nose decided to give out. Kiba held his breathe, not moving and wondering if she would notice.

"T-this is no good Akamaru chan…I can't smell him at all. Ah…I give up. I'm going to call Kiba back." She stated, standing up very quickly. Naturally, she didn't realize Kiba was there, and she tried to get up entirely too fast. Halfway upon rising, she hit her toe against hard against a tree root. She stumbled, cried out in alarm, and began to fall over. He arms flailed out wildly, clumsily looking for something to grab onto for support. Kiba was fast to respond, and quickly opened his arms to catch her.

"Ah! K-Kiba kun! Is that you! When did you g-get there…!" Hinata faltered, feeling herself being drawn securely into Kiba's chest. It was lucky for Kiba that Hinata couldn't see anything, as he wasn't doing a very good job of masking his emotion. He looked rather flustered to be holding the young girl. She looked up, even though she obviously couldn't see anything. Kiba's face began to grow hot, their faces we're only a few inches apart. "_Kiba you damned idiot. You caught her, now you can let her go." _A tiny voice growled in Kiba's head. His arms refused to respond, intent on keeping Hinata there for just a little while. Her tiny frame seemed to fit so perfectly into his arms. To him, it was a very warm and comforting feeling. He wished it could have lasted a just a few more minutes, but…

"…Oh. I'm sorry. Was I…interrupting something…?" a voice asked from a behind a tree. Startled, Kiba released Hinata, and she whirled around to face the direction of the noise. Kiba reached up and removed the blindfold for her. A small pause, and Aburame Shino sauntered out from behind the tree where he was standing.

"S-Shino k-kun! W-why are you h-here? Weren't you t-training with your f-father!" Hinata stuttered more than usual after being caught in such an awkward position. Kiba fought to regain his composure, biting the inside of his cheek as Shino watched them both.

"…I was. But I finished. I decided to see if you two were done with training or not. And possibly join you." Shino said, shaking his head a little. "I…didn't mean to interrupt any-"

"Nothing was happening!" Kiba practically yelled, startling Hinata and Shino. "W-we we're training, and Hinata fell, so I caught her! That's all! Nothing happened!" he said quickly with a little stutter of his own. Not wanting to show how embarrassed he looked, he quickly faced the away from his team mates and stubbornly folded his arms across his chest. Shino merely blinked in response.

"Alright. That makes sense. No need to be so defensive Kiba." Shino said calmly, noticing that Hinata had glued her eyes to the ground and began her classic forefinger fidget.

"I'm not being defensive!" Kiba snapped, whirling around to face Shino again. Shino sighed and shook his head again. Why does his hot headed friend always act like this…?

"Okay. Whatever you say Kiba. Now if this little training exercise is over, would it be possible to start a new one? I'd like to join you guys if you don't mind. Have you already thrown kunai?" Shino questioned as Kiba approached his two friends.

"Yep! And we both did really well, didn't we Hinata?" Kiba asked brightly, giving an enthusiastic smile. "Hinata hit her mark dead on many times, didn't you?" Hinata furiously nodded her head with her eyes still on the ground.

"Y-yeah…but only because Kiba helped…" she mumbled, trying to fathom what had just happened.

"Hmm. I see. Alright, then lets go do something else." Shino offered, turning around and shuffling back into the forest. Hinata hesitated, then quickly scuffled after. Kiba stood there for a moment, trying to get his emotions into check. The idea of walking up to a nearby tree and smacking his head into it sounded very appealing at the moment. He stood in a daze, not realizing that his two companions had just left. Akamaru barked irritably, trying to bring his master back into reality. When he got not reaction, he promptly bit Kiba in the ankle. Not enough to break the skin, but enough to snap him out of the trance. Upon realizing what had just happened, he quickly dashed into the forest after his friends. _"stupid…" _he scolded himself, furiously shaking his head.

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A few hours later, Kiba completed his training with his friends and quickly returned home. He briefly considered escorting Hinata home again, but decided against it. After that awkward moment, he decided to give her a little space. Upon returning home, he quickly ate dinner, then took a fast shower. He was tired after training that day, and desperately wanted to rest up for the next day. Before turning off the lights, he absent-mindedly removed his kunai pouch and set it on the nightstand. He paused for a moment, the reached into it and pulled out a kunai. It was just a careless gesture caused from boredom, and it was also just a lucky grab. He inspected the kunai a little. He ran his fingers down the side, noting how sharp it was. When his finger reached the bottom of the blade, he noticed something about it. _"_Hey…its got a little mark on it…" Kiba observed, giving it a closer look. He stared for a moment, then realized it was a little heart that had been scratchedinto the hilt. He grinned a bit, then set the kunai down on the nightstand. It was Hinata's kunai. He had picked it up by mistake. _"Ill return it to her tomorrow…" _was the last thought that floated in Kiba's head before falling into a deep slumber.

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A/N: Yay! I get to write _another _author's note! squeak! (clears throat) Okay. Well. Not much to say for this chapter. Eh…I wanted to make if fluffy, but I guess I didn't really do a good job. Ill try harder next time I decided to have some fluff…And I'm also worried that Kiba is getting too OCC for my comfort. Yes, I shall change this too. Shino's also a hard character to type about. He's so quiet, it's kinda hard to picture him in situations like these….oh well….(coughs) Anyway, I'm going to get started on chapter III, whether I got lots of reviews or not. (even thought they would be nice…) I don't think its fair for authors to say, "REVIEW OR I WONT UPDATE!" Thanks for reading it, even if you didn't like it! Please have patience with me as I try to improve my writing skills. Ja ne!


	3. Chapter 3, Part I

**My Guardian Wolf; Chapter three, part I.**

_To my reviewers:_

StarryRavenFire: Thank you so much for being my first reviewer! I love the NaruHina pairing as well, but I decided to start off with a KibaHina. I wont stop updating. () thank you for your support.

DbKit: I took your advice to heart, thank you for the time to give it to me. There will be a little ShinoHina, but it's a bit one sided…Sorry about the little typos, and thank you so much for the review!

KibaHinaFreak: Im pleased my story is to your liking. It's kinda hard for me to keep the characters OC, I thought I was doing a bad job about. Thanks for putting my doubts to rest.

Aether Sygil Wynn Ansur: Good to know you simply love it. I'll continue to work hard. Thank you very much!

Disclaimer: Party! For even a whole chapter later, I still do not own Naruto or any of its characters! If I did, all the movies would be so incredibly boring, no one would want to watch them anymore! I only own this lame story! Steal it, (though I don't know why you'd want to) and you'll be getting a lump of coal for Christmas instead of that shiny new Naruto DVD you asked for!

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"Huh! WHAT! Kurenai sensei, are you serious!"

"Impossible. I won't believe it."

"A-ano…that sounds unlikely…."

Kurenai put her hands on her hips and gave her group of young genins a skeptical look. Okay sure, they hadn't gotten "any action in a long time", as Kiba would put it. But it's not like they were _never _going to get a C rank mission again. The response seemed unnecessary, especially the one coming from Kiba.

"Yes. I'm sure. Today we have C rank mission. Now wipe that ridiculous look off your face Kiba." Kurenai ordered, flipping through a few pages on her clipboard. "It's nothing too big though, don't get too excited." She warned, as she saw Kiba replace his expression with a dopey wolfish grin. "Some villagers have reported seeing a small group of bandits hiding out in an abandoned house in the forest. Our job is to go there and investigate these reports. If they prove true, we round up the bandits and bring em' back. Got it?" Kurenai asked, watching her team's reactions. Kiba furiously nodded his head up and down, and gave a whoop of excitement. Shino merely nodded, and Hinata had begun to fidget, gluing her eyes to the usual spot on the ground.

"Yep, got it! Now let's go already! I want to get some exercise!" Kiba declared, picking up Akamaru and putting him on his head. Kurenai frowned at Kiba's response. It was good to be enthusiastic for these things, but they hadn't even talked over a plan yet. A good shinobi must always understand these things. Planning ahead is vital. Carelessly running off could cost you your life.

"Kiba, I haven't even told you how we're going to go about this, don't be so hasty." Kurenai sighed, shaking her head. Kiba didn't respond, but rather stubbornly folded his arms across his chest and gave her an expecting look. Kurenai bit back the urge to roll her eyes.

"This is how it will go. First, I'm going to lead you all into the forest, to the place where the bandits are expected." Kurenai began in a very business type tone. Hinata stopped fidgeting a moment to look up at her instructor and pay closer attention. "Once we're almost at the sight, I'm going to give you a signal to stop. Then I want Hinata to use her Byakugan to tell us how many there are." Kurenai said, looking at Hinata to make sure she caught the remark. "Once you've done that, all of you hide somewhere near the building. Then Shino, I want you to send a bunch of your bugs into the house to flush the bandits out. Feel free to let your bugs suck a few of em' dry of what little chakra you can expect from a bandit. Finally…" she paused for a moment to let the information sink in. "When they come out, I want you all to jump out of your hiding places and attack them. From then on, it is up to you to decide how to defeat them. I'll be hiding nearby, ready to jump in if things start to get nasty." She finished, putting down her clipboard. "Any questions?"

"K-Kurenai sensei…W-why aren't you going to be fighting with us...? Why are you going to be b-back up?" Hinata stuttered, looking uncomfortable at the thought of not fighting with an experienced Jounin at their sides.

"Because it's training you how to think and fight independently. Sometimes in the future, I won't always be there to help you. You must learn how to strategize and fight on your own. Experience is the best teacher." Kurenai explained. Hinata didn't seem to think so. She opened her mouth as if to protest, and then shut it again knowing any argument would be futile. "Hinata, you have nothing to worry about. I said I'd jump in the moment things got nasty, and you have two team mates with you. You won't get hurt." Kurenai re-assured her with a friendly smile. "I know missions like these make you anxious, but you'll get more comfortable with them over time." She promised, waiting for her to stop her fidgeting. She didn't, but at least she wasn't staring at the ground anymore. Kiba felt badly for her. He knew all to well how nervous Hinata gets when they have to go out and actually do some fighting.

"Hey, Hinata, Kurenai sensei is right. I'll be there too, so it's not like you'll actually be in any actual danger anyway." Kiba declared, thumping himself in the chest as a sign of confidence. "Besides, what are a bunch of lowly, dirty bandits going to be able to do to _you? _You're a Shinobi. They're…uhh…" Kiba paused, searching for the right word. "People untrained in any art of any kind expect to pick up a crude weapon and kill anything that moves." Kiba decided. This didn't seem to make her feel any better.

"I think what Kiba is trying to say is, you're more skilled than the average bandit." Shino offered, raising his eyebrows at Kiba's strange attempt at calming her anxieties. "And…you shouldn't worry. Just try to focus." He said calmly, putting his hands in his pockets. Kurenai smiled at the two boys. She was pleased to know they we're all a team, and always taking care of each other. Hinata looked at Kiba, then at Shino, then back to Kurenai. She seemed mollified, and she firmly nodded her head.

"Okay, I-I'll do my best…" Hinata murmured, also sticking her hands in her pockets. Kiba smiled, but it was a bit forced to be honest. How come Shino knew exactly what to say to her…?

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_Stop._

Kurenai silently raised her hand at her team, the unspoken signal she promised to give when they had almost reached the base. Turning to face her team, she gestured for Hinata to come closer. Slowly, she approached Kurenai, careful to not make any unnecessary noise. Going through the usual hand signs, she focused her chakra to her pearly, clear eyes.

_"Byakugan!" _she thought silently, as veins began to form around her eyes. Kiba inwardly flinched. The Byakugan was truly a fearsome technique. It could even make his quiet, shy team mate seem to be a menacing threat; not to be taken lightly. Hinata directed her attention to the old, mildewy house just a few yards away. Peering inside, she noticed 8 full grown men. Most of them we're collapsed on the floor, but one was on the bed and another sprawled across the table. Empty bottles of sake lay forgotten and discarded in various places. The bandits we're obviously in a deep drunken slumber, each with a weapon of some kind strapped to their belts. At the foot of the bag lay two cloth bags stuffed full of valuable possessions, and an old wooden chest filled with papers. Papers…how strange. Maybe they we're maps of some kind. Hinata faced her team mates, and held up 8 fingers to indicate the amount of bandits. She paused thoughtfully for a moment. Then she reached out, as if to grab something. She mimed picking up a bottle, putting it to her lips, and then closed her eyes. She tilted her head to the side in an unspoken gesture to ask if they understood. They all flashed a thumbs-up. Shino and Kiba moved forward to accompany their team mate. Quietly, they spread out near the house to find a hiding place. Kiba and Akamaru scrambled quickly into a tree, while Hinata crawled into a bush that was near Kiba's tree. She didn't want to spread too far out from him or Shino. Shino also crawled into a bush, though it was a little farther away from Kiba's tree than they would have liked. In a very slow and deliberate fashion, Shino raised his arm and pointed towards the house. Within seconds, an army of bugs came swarming out of his body. Out through his ears, his eyes, and other openings in the body. In a thick black cloud, they swarmed towards the house and crawled in un-noticed through an open window.

All was silent for a moment. Hinata could feel her heart thumping wildly in her chest. She put a hand to her heart to calm it down, trying to be strong with her resolve to fight. Her fingers fought the urge to fidget. Kiba lay motionless on a branch higher up with Akamaru. He was digging his claws into the bark of the tree, anxious and eager to begin the fight. Akamaru wriggled with anticipation, unable to keep still. And then it came. Shuffling noises became apparent in the house. The drunken fools we're rising, confused with the swarm of bugs invading their home. A bottle of sake shattered, and was followed by a loud scream. Hinata swallowed, but kept a strong look of determination in her eyes. There were now definite fighting noises in the house. Kiba's knuckles became white from scratching to the tree bark too hard. The front door of the house flew off its hinges as the eight men struggled to push their way through the tiny frame. The swarm of insects overtook two of the more unfortunate men. They struggled for only a moment, before falling down where they stood. The bugs clicked and hissed as they sucked the victims dry of their chakra. The remaining six men stood in a daze, frantically looking around as if they somehow knew three young shinobi were there to attack them.

Kiba gave a ferocious howl, and sprang forth from the tree. He landed directly on top of the shortest bandit. He dug his sharp claws into his left shoulder, while Akamaru sank his canines into the right. Elements of surprise were on his side, leaving the bandit no time to respond. Realizing that he had to keep the bandit _alive, _Kiba reached up and delivered a sharp, precise chop to the neck right over the pressure point and knocked him out. Easy enough.

"K-Kiba kun! Behind you!" Hinata shouted as loud as her quiet voice allowed her. The other bandits were quick to react after Kiba had attacked the first one, and had now formed a semi circle around him. Kiba looked up, unsure of what to do for a moment. He didn't have time to think. Hinata jumped out of the bush with two kunai in hand. She let them both fly for the two bandits closest to Kiba. Her aim was true. The first kunai hit on of them square in the left shoulder, and the other one hit another in the side. She had inflicted a serious wound, one that would become infected if not treated. But not deadly, and now Kiba had rose to his feet. He cocked his arm back, and threw a punch at the first bandit he could reach. The bandit dodged it and drew his sword. Letting out a low, guttural war cry, he brought down the blade in a side-ways slash at Kiba. Kiba merely grinned at the thieves' stupidity. He easily caught his wrist, and they began to fight for ownership of the weapon.

Shino decided it was about time he join the fray too. He stood up out of the bush, walked out, and calmly faced two of the three bandits that we're not wounded. They snarled, and lunged at him. Shino merely raised his arms and summoned his swarm of bugs back to him. Upon seeing them, the bandits hesitated and froze. Even in their slightly drunken state, they could tell how dangerous the bugs were. After all, they did overtake two of their members all by themselves.

"He who hesitates in battle is lost. You would do well to remember that." Shino said in a calm, even tone as he ran in towards the bandits. They were not expecting him to be so fast. Shino was on them in an instant, and delivered a sharp blow to their faces. He could feel their noses crunch beneath his fists, and a warm trickle of crimson blood. Dazed, they stood on the spot holding their bleeding noses and howling in pain. Shino, seeing his opportunity sent his group of bugs to overtake them. They clicked and rubbed their feelers together, still hungry for chakra. The men that had already been drained proved inadequate. With a loud hiss, they crawled over to the two bandits and began to drain them of their chakra. The bandits gave out grunts of confusions, and furiously flailed their arms in a pathetic attempt to shake them off. Their arms soon grew limp, depleted of energy, and slumped to their sides. Shortly after, the large men came crashing down to their knees, twitching and writhing in pain.

Hinata stood firmly before another one of the bandits. Her piercing Byakugan eyes we're strangely enough, not intimidating her large, burly opponent. Quite contrary, he seemed amused by something. He tilted his head to the side, examining the small girl before him. He grinned, and then let out an amused chuckle.

"Whuts a lil' girl like _you _doing with weapons n' takin' on a strong, full grown man like _me_?" he asked her, slurring his words seeing as how he was still partially drunk. Hinata remained silent, but decided it was time to actually do something and answer his question for him. Slowly for dramatic effect, she went into a Hyuuga back stance, hands in front of her and ready to prove herself. He stared at her for a moment, and then broke into a fit of laugher. Quietly at first, but then they gradually developed into loud, long winded laughs of ridicule. Hinata inwardly flinched. _"What's he laughing about…?" _Hinata asked herself, watching the strange man chuckle. Kiba heard the laughter, and his head snapped up to see what was wrong.

"Bad move moron." Kiba's opponent jeered, raising his sword to slice Kiba's exposed back. Akamaru growled, sprang up, and sank his sharp fangs into the wrist of the bandit. He yelped in surprise, and shook his arm back and forth. Kiba heard the bandit's yelp, and whirled around to see what was wrong. Upon seeing Akamaru dangling from the bandit's wrist, Kiba snarled and dived at his opponent.

"Oh NO you don't! You are NOT hurting Akamaru!" he growled, grabbing the man's wrist and crunching it with a loud crack. Akamaru relaxed his jaw and landed on all fours. Bounding over to Kiba, he gave a bark of encouragement for his partner to continue the fight. A thick stream of blood flowed freely from the puncture wounds Akamaru had give the man.

"GAH! My wrist! My fricken wrist! You _damned_ brat, I'll_ kill_ you for that!" the bandit howled, switching his weapon to his left hand to resume the fight.

"Ah jez dun understand what yer trying to prove little missy." Hinata's opponent taunted. "Lil' girls like you shouldn't be playing with weapons. You might scar yer pretty little face one of these days" He teased, trying to get a rise out of Hinata. Hinata wasn't falling for any tricks, and stood firmly in her back stance. It would be a lie to say she wasn't just a little scared, but she promised herself she wasn't going to run away. Taking in a deep breath, she swallowed the lump in her throat and gave a sweet, innocent smile. The bandit blinked in confusion. A pretty, feminine smile was not what he was expecting as a response to his insults.

"If you don't understand why, then why don't you attack me? I'd be happy explain." Hinata said in a strong voice. The bandit grunted. He didn't like being taunted by a girl such as Hinata.

"Dun say ah' didn't warn ya' sweetheart!" He bellowed, drawing his weapon and charging at Hinata. She merely stood there and waited for him to come closer. He brought down the sword in a horizontal slash, hoping to nick her face and prove his point. Hinata merely smiled, and kicked his wrist away. His weapon easily flew out of his hand. The large man snarled. He didn't expect such a tiny girl to have such a powerful kick. _"Fine. I don't need a weapon to finish of a little brat!" _he thought to himself, cocking back his other hand to throw a punch at her. Hinata merely brought her hands forward, ready to use her Jyuuken, the gentle fist. Reaching up, she swiftly pressed at his arm in a quick and graceful motion. She hit him in the forearm, the place were the tendons control the hand. He stopped abruptly in mid punch, unable to clench his fist anymore. Hinata then reached up and pressed another spot, right below the neck. She wanted to end it quickly and go help her team mates. She hit him precisely in the pressure point. The mans eyes bulged, and then he sank to his knees and hit the ground. Hinata watched him fall, with a sense of self pride and satisfaction. She got him. _She got him! _Shy, sweet little Hyuuga Hinata, had taken down a full grown man practically three times her size and strength. She wanted to grin and say, "Look! Kiba, Shino, look! I took him down! I took him down and I didn't run away!" But she knew this wouldn't be wise. Looking around, she noticed that the fight was just about over. The first two bandits lay drained and forgotten in the doorway. They didn't even have a chance to join the fray. Shino was currently having his swarm of bugs drain two more, bringing the numbers down four. Another one lay sprawled out on the field with two bloody shoulders and a lump on his head. That must have been the one that Kiba fist took down, which left only 3. Kiba had also defeated one that had tried to run away after he saw the futility of the battle they were fighting. Kiba had picked him off with a few shuriken, and he was pinned to a nearby tree. Plus the on Hinata took down, that meant seven of the eight bandits gone. Hinata also noted the ones she had hit with kunai were out cold. There was only one thief standing. Kiba was just toying with him now, obviously having his fun. He would dive in for a kick, then stop right before impact and punch him instead. Akamaru would snarl, lunge at the opponent, and then suddenly pull back. Shino was obviously done, and was now content to be watching Kiba take down his opponent. Hinata waited patiently for Kiba to finish.

"Had enough?" Kiba grinned, pulling another punch and kneeing him in the gut. The bandit grunted, and stumbled backwards. "If you want to give up, ill just tie you up instead of beating you into submission." He teased, allowing the bandit a moment to catch his breathe. For a moment, it looked like he was going to take Kiba's offer, then he growled in frustration and went in for another attack. Kiba sighed, and pretended he regretted what he was about to do. One minute, Hinata was watching intently. The next, she collapsed to one knee in pain. She opened her mouth in shock, and let out an agonized scream. She looked down to see what could have caused her such pain. The bandit she had fought with lay on the ground by her feet, panting and shaking. Hitting the pressure point had merely dazed him with pain; He didn't actually pass out. While she was distracted with the Kiba's fight, the man had taken a knife out from his pocked and stabbed Hinata in the calf. Her breathing became ragged and shallow from the pain. Cold feelings of dread settled in her stomach. A lump formed in her throat, and she began to feel dizzy. She was careless. She felt incredibly hopeless and stupid. "_I…I should have checked to see if he had really passed out…_" Hinata thought to herself, feeling tears of frustration well up in her eyes. She thought she had actually accomplished something, actually fought a good battle. Yet here she kneeled, with an opponent half beaten and a knife jammed in her calf. But…didn't she promise herself she was going to try her hardest to fight? It hurt…It hurt so much. But that pain also gave her strength. She knew something had to be done. She couldn't just sit there and bleed to death.

"I…I will not lose…" she panted, reaching down to grab the hilt of the blade. Gritting her teeth, she quickly removed the blade from her calf. It hurt almost as much to pull it out as it did to have it stabbed in. She screamed again. Vaguely, she could have sworn she heard Kiba and Shino calling out to her in the distance. Determined to finish the battle, she raised the knife high over her head and brought it down upon the bandit. It easily pierced through his flesh. The bandits arm became the blades new sheath. He cried out, and reached up to yank his own weapon out of his arm. His hand was still having spasms from Hinata's Jyuuken, and he could not clench his fist around the hilt. Moments later, a swarm of little black bugs crawled over the man, and a very angry Inuzuka Kiba stomped down on his back.

"You'll pay for that you dirty, no good fuc-" Kiba began, grinding his foot into the open wound on the bandits arm.

"Kiba, stop. Let the bugs do their job." Shino cut him off before he could finish his insult.

"Damn it Shino, he hurt Hinata! He has to pay! "Kiba growled, continuing to smash his foot into the open wound.

"Instead of executing revenge to the bandit who has _already passed out_, how about we _help Hinata?"_ Shino said in a voice of deadly calm. Though he was wearing his dark sunglasses, Kiba was willing to guess that his friend was glaring daggers at him. He could have sworn he heard a hint of a threat in Shino's remark.

Kiba looked up to see that Hinata had fallen over, unable to kneel any longer. Her entire body was shaking, and she was whimpering in pain. But her eyes held no tears. No. They were the eyes of a strong, determined Hyuuga kunoichi. They held nothing but pride for the task she had just accomplished. Forgetting the bandit, Kiba and Shino dashed over to help their team mate and treat the wound. Kiba got to her first.

"Hinata! HINATA!" Kiba shouted, kneeling down and gently picking up the fragile young girl into his arms. "Are you okay! Do you have any other injuries!" He asked, shaking her a little to get a response of some kind. Hinata looked up into the deep, wolfish eyes of her team mate and smiled sweetly.

"Look Kiba, I defeated him." Hinata smiled, ignoring his question in favor of declaring her victory. Shino was holding onto Hinata's leg, and cleaning up the bloody wound. He pulled out a small, clear bottle from the beige pouch hanging by his side. This was a standard, basic anti-septic that every ninja carried with him or her at all times. Carefully, he screwed open the top and poured a little over the open wound. Hinata gasped, and then bite her lip in an attempt to not cry out. It pained Kiba greatly to his delicate friend in a state of physical discomfort. Kiba bit back the urge to reach up and stroke her cheek in an act of affection and comfort. That was not what she needed right now. Shino threw aside a cloth soaked with her blood, and began to wrap up the wound with gauze and medical tape. Granted, Shino was no medical ninja, but they had to stop the bleeding before they could go back to the village and find one. He finished wrapping her leg, and gently set it back down on the ground.

"Thank you Shino…" Hinata whispered, giving him a grateful smile. "And you too, Kiba kun…"

"Don't thank us, we're a team. It's our job to take care of each other." Shino replied, with the tiniest hint of gentleness in his voice. Kiba blinked. He didn't know Shino could talk in a comforting way.

"Is Hinata okay?" A voice laced with worry asked. Kiba and Shino merely nodded, already knowing that it was Kurenai that asked the question. They had become accustomed to her appearing out of what seemed to be nowhere. She knelt down to examine the patch job Shino had done, and grinned in satisfaction. It was a careful, neat, and tidy job. The bleeding had stopped, and would probably not start up again. "Is anyone else injured?" Kurenai questioned, though she already guessed the answer. When everyone shook their head no, Kurenai quickly stood up and briskly walked over to the tree that had the bandit pinned to it. He had almost wiggled his way free. "Shino, come here and help me!" Kurenai shouted over to the boy who was still crouched by Hinata. "I need help rounding up these bandits to take back to the village. Kiba, mind Hinata!" Kurenai ordered, turning around to face the bandit. He looked positively terrified. "Well hello there my fine, sleazy friend. Did my little genins sober you up with their fists?" Kurenai asked sweetly, watching the bandit try to squirm out of the tree and run far far away. "No no no, we mustn't do that." Kurenai cooed, as if scolding a child. "Shino! I'm waiting!" she yelled over to him again. Shino looked to Hinata, then up to Kiba, and then back over to Kurenai. Slowly, and very reluctantly, he rose to his feet. He paused for a moment to raise his arms and summon his bugs back to him. When they had all stowed away back into his body, Shino jammed his hands into his pockets and began to walk over to Kurenai sensei. He paused for a moment, and then turned around to face his team as if he had forgotten something. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. What could he say? Kurenai had called him over and he couldn't stay with Hinata. Sighing, he turned around again and unenthusiastically scuffled over to help his teach gather up and secure the bandits.

"Hinata…you fought very well. You…have a lot to be proud of." Kiba started, unsure of how to express his praise. "It was just unlucky that he didn't pass out from the pressure point getting hit. But you still did a good job. Your…growing." Kiba mumbled, averting his gaze away from Hinata. The remark sounded cheesy to him, but not to Hinata. She paused for a moment, then grinned happily upon hearing the remark. It wasn't everyday Hinata got praised for her fighting skills. In the old days, anything and everything wasn't good enough. Everything down to the tiniest punch was frowned upon. The praise made her heart feel warm and light. She could feel it beating strong in her chest.

"T-thank you Kiba kun…It means a lot to me…It really does…" she sighed, turning her head to the side and snuggling in a little closer to Kiba for the comfort. Kiba looked up at her again, surprised, and noticed how joyful she looked. Hinata de-activated her Byakugan, and softly closed her eyes. She was getting tired from keeping it active for so long. She was glad the battle was over, and that she had nothing to do now but rest securely in Kiba's protective arms. She could feel his warmth from being held so long, and comforted her even more. Hinata almost dozed off into a peaceful slumber right there in his arms. Kiba's face began to grow warm without realizing why. It didn't make any sense to him but for some reason, he wanted to embrace Hinata. He wanted to keep her by his side, safe from the dangers of the world. He didn't want her to get inured again, not ever, though he knew this was impossible. She walked the path of a shinobi, and she was bound to get hurt again in the future. It was inevitable.

"…We're ready to go." Shino said flatly, looking somewhat miffed at the scene. Looking up, Kiba noticed that all the bandits were now awake and bound together with rope. One of them looked extremely angry, others looked calm, and a couple of them even looked positively terrified. Kurenai was smiling dangerously at them, a smile that clearly promised they would regret it if they tried to escape. She caught Kiba's eye, and shouted over to them, "We're going back now! One of you will have to take up the rear so our little friends won't think of leaving our company. The other one will need to carry Hinata, I don't think so can walk on that leg."

Shino quickly turned down to look at Hinata and opened his mouth to say something. Sensing what he was going to say, Kiba quickly spoke up to cut him off. "Come on Hinata, I'll carry you back." Kiba offered, standing up and holding her bridal style. Hinata opened her eyes, offered a smile of gratitude, then closed the again. Satisfied, Kiba walked back over to Kurenai, careful to avoid Shino's eyes. He was willingly to guess he wasn't pleased. Shino was his friend, but right now he wanted to be selfish. He wanted to be the one to carry Hinata. _"She's so tiny and light." _Kiba thought to himself, greeting Kurenai sensei with a wolfish grin. _"I could probably carry her like this for a long time and not get tired."_

Shino stood on the spot for a moment, struggling to get his emotions in check. He was miffed that Kiba had cut him off before he could speak. It also annoyed him ever so slightly that _he _had to help Kurenai round up the bandits, and _Kiba _got to mind Hinata. But what could be done? Kiba had already agreed to carry Hinata back, and the bandits had all been rounded up. "_Team mates take care of each other and help each other out." Shino told himself firmly. "Kiba took care of Hinata, and you helped Kurenai with the bandits. You've done your job. Now it's time to go back" _Shino turned around, and took his place at the end of the line. One of the bandits sneered at him, and it seemed he would have liked nothing more than to smack Shino upside the head. To be honest, he was surprised the 4 bandits he took down could still stand. Shino did not respond to his sneer, but rather he casually and silently called a couple bugs to crawl out and onto his face. Upon seeing them, the bandit went white and scrubbed the smirk off his face. Satisfied, cell #8 began their walk back to the village. There was a strong feeling of accomplishment in the air. It was a C-rank mission, and a success.

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A/N: Wai! This chapter turned out entirely too long! I have to break it up into two parts! If I put everything I wanted to put into this chapter, it would have been so long you'd become bored with it! So even though I don't want to, I'm breaking it up. Also, I've never written a fighting scene before, I hope its okay! Gomen, gomen! (Cries) I'm so happy. You have no idea how happy I am. People reviewed my story. I feel so honored. I expected to come online and see a big fat zero. You've made me very happy. I now understand what authors mean when they say reviews inspire them to continue. I was able to whip out ¾ of this chappie in one day.

I decided it would be fun to make Shino a bit….you know…jealous. 8D (Squeaks) I think it will be good, healthy competition for Kiba. And ShinoHina is a cute couple too; it will be fun to imply. Don't worry though, its still a KibaHina! Naruto is showing up in the next chappie too! And now this A/N is entirely too long. Oh well! See you in chappie 3 part II! Ja ne!


	4. Chapter 3, part II

**My Guardian wolf; Chpt III part II**

_To my reviewers:_

KatsurinaHiragami: That's okay. My computer is afraid of me too!

HinataS2Kiba: Thank you! Thank you! In Japanese, Arigatou! Arigatou!

Riaeth: Thank you very much for your kind words. :D

Achillea: I completely agree. Team #8 is my favorite team, and we just don't see enough stories about them! That's why I got fed up with it and eventually wrote this. :3

DbKit: No, no! You're not being a snobbish know it all! I'm very pleased that you took the time to give me the advice and gave me such a long review. Again, I took your words to heart. Next battle scene, I will definitely try that technique. Thank you so much for your support.

Elusiveprodigy: I think ill go and do that. KibaHina rules! (well duh. Otherwise I wouldn't be writing this story.)

Disclaimer: Read disclaimers 1, 2, and 3! Must I type one every time? (Cries)

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"Oh my gosh! Look at the parade!"

"Is that Inuzuka Kiba carrying Hyuuga Hinata?"

Kiba scowled. He had been hearing comments like this ever since cell #8 had returned to the village and started trekking back to the office. If people were going to gossip, he wished they would at the very least kept it to themselves. Though he had to admit; they must have been quite a strange sight to behold. Kurenai was leading them all forward, with a cool and expressionless face. Eight battered and bruised bandits trailed behind her. Every last one of them was glaring daggers at the villagers, though they had horrible aim. No one was taking the hint, nor did their gawking cease. Shino was at the end of the line of bandits. He scuffled along with his hands jammed deep in his pockets. He seemed to be deep in thought. This gave him that aura which made his fangirls squeal. And bringing up the rear was a very flustered, very grumpy looking Inuzuka Kiba. In his arms lay Hyuuga Hinata, famous for being the shyest girl in Konohagakure. They just needed some music, a couple a flags, a few sparklers, and they were practically a parade all on their own! Hinata appeared to be sleeping, though she was only pretending. It was her way of ignoring the gossip around her. Her injured leg was visible, yet no one seemed to notice it. The first and _only_ thing they took in was that it was _Kiba carrying Hinata._

"Omigosh! _Why_ is our Kiba carrying that Hyuuga girl?" a random girl with mousy brown hair wailed.

"I don't know! I don't know! But they look so cozy, it's not fair! I want to be carried away by Kiba sama too!" another girl sobbed, staring at Hinata with jealously. Kiba bit his bottom lip, painfully hard in an attempt to keep his emotions in check. He bowed his head down so his face couldn't be revealed. Akamaru whined in protest and squirmed backwards a little bit. The last thing Kiba wanted his little fan club to see was the fact that he couldn't keep his emotions under control. Any comfort he had previously felt was now threatening to be over-powered by his deep annoyance. _"Well, at least I'm not Hyuuga Neji or Uchiha Sasuke. They have a way bigger fan base than me." Kiba thought to himself, still biting his lower lip. "I wonder how they deal with it…maybe I should go over there and-_

"Why does Shino sama look so unhappy?" a short, young lady whispered to her friend next to her.

"He's obviously rather upset, though I can't tell why! We should report to our club leader and point this out! We can send out an investigation team to see if they can find out the source of his problem!" the black haired girl whispered back, watching Shino with concern. Kiba scowled again and rolled his eyes. Fan bases are incredibly annoying. But these things are to be expected. For males, becoming a ninja of any rank automatically makes you quite desirable among the non ninja ladies; no matter what your personality. There were very few exceptions to this sacred law of the fangirls, and Kiba was starting to wish he was one of them.

"…I think I'm going to disappear for awhile after this." Shino muttered to Kiba, who had slowed his pace to walk beside his friend.

"Right behind ya buddy." Kiba replied, shooting a dirty glance at one of the gawking females. They merely opened their eyes in shock, and squealed at the attention. Akamaru, sensing his master's discomfort, growled at the squealing girls; though they did not hear him. The walk back to the office takes only ten minutes, though it was starting to feel like hours. Maybe time was slowing down again, like it did in Ichiraku ramen. Yes, this must be the only logical explanation. Hinata's face was becoming red and flustered, which did not suite a sleeping face. At this rate, she was going to blow her cover.

"Oh my! Look how bright her face is! Maybe she's sick…?" yet another Kiba fangirl hypothesized.

"Yes! That must be it! She's sick, and Kiba sama is being a good, noble friend and helping her out!"

"Oh yes. A very, _veeeeery _good friend."

_"Kami sama, make it STOP!" _Kiba mentally screamed to himself, quite ready to break out into a frantic run back into the office. Before he could do this, Kurenai stopped and turned around to face her team. If she had taken in any of the gossip, she showed no signs of it.

"We're here!" she said cheerfully, smiling deviously at the group of bandits behind her. "Need I remind you that you gentlemen will be in the presence of the Sandaime himself? Mind your manners now!" she taunted with a hearty wink. This added greatly to the discomfort of the bandits. One of them looked like he was considering running away. Before he got the chance, Kurenai had grabbed the wrists of the bandit in front and gave a sharp jerk. The chain reaction made them all stumble ungracefully into the office. Snickering, Kiba followed Shino through the large door and into the office.

"We're back Hokage sama!" Kurenai called out to Sarutobi, giving the front bandit another sharp jerk to force the lot of em' forward. Kiba and Shino soon scuttled into sight, and took their places next to Kurenai sensei. Hinata opened her eyes, knowing she didn't need to pretend she was sleeping anymore. Anbu immediately jumped out of nowhere and swiftly approached the group of bandits. Wordlessly, the anbu rounded them up and took them off to an unknown location. Once they had left, Sandaime turned to face cell #8 and gave them a gentle smile.

"I'm assuming the mission was a success, Kurenai san?" Sarutobi questioned, reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out some sheets of paper. Kiba inwardly groaned. This was the most boring part of any mission: The part where Kurenai gives a long, detailed report of the mission they had just completed. Normally, they don't take too long with D rank missions, but today they had a C rank mission and there was much to discuss.

"Yes. The reports we're affirmative. There were indeed bandits hiding out in the forest, eight of them to be exact." Kurenai began in her business like tone. Kiba smirked at her opening statement. Hadn't Sandaime just seen all eight of them? So wasn't it _obvious _the reports we're true, and _obvious _that there were indeed eight bandits? Maybe Kurenai just likes to make a big production out of things. "Locating them and taking them down was a simple matter, seeing as how our three little genins have been maturing so…."

Kiba's eyes glazed over somewhere along the third word of her next sentence. He was already bored and tuning everything out. One could assume Shino was too, but who could know with those dark glasses he always wore. Vaguely, Kiba heard parts of comments like, "…drunken, easy to take down…" or, "…one serious injury was sustained…" But his brain was not registering any of it. He allowed his eyes to wander out the window, and noticed how early in the day it still was. They had started bright and early that morning, and ended the mission fairly quickly; much quicker than Kiba had expected. It must have only been 2:00 or so. _"That gives us time for a D-rank mission…"_ _Kiba realized, biting his lower lip again. "I don't _want _a D-rank mission; I want to go home for once."_

"…Isn't that right Kiba? Shino?" Kurenai chirped, giving them both a proud look. Kiba snapped back into reality and gave his teacher a blank expression. He had absolutely no idea what Kurenai had been talking about. Quickly recovering, he smiled and nodded his head.

"Yes, absolutely." Kiba said with a fake grin, trying to look convincing. Shino frowned, and raised his eyebrows at Kiba. Kurenai's smile immediately vanished and was replaced with a disapproving look.

"Kiba, I was testing you to see if you we're listening. The proper response to that question was no." she said stiffly, turning around to face the Sandaime again. Kiba blinked, and shook his head in confusion. It's not like it was _his _fault he wasn't listening.

"So, all in all, it was a complete success with just one injury." Kurenai concluded, gesturing at Hinata. Sandaime gave the group of young genin an approving smile.

"I'm pleased to hear that. It sounds like you're all maturing, especially you Hinata. You all have much to be proud of. I hope to hear other good reports like these in the future." Sandaime praised, nodding his head. "You are all dismissed for the day. But first, I think we should attend to Hinata's leg." Sarutobi gave a small gesture, and a medic ninja was immediately on the scene. Sandaime nodded at Hinata, and the medic ninja turned around to do his work.

"If you could please, sit her in a chair over there?" the young ninja requested politely. Somewhat reluctantly, Kiba slowly approached a chair and gently sat Hinata down. She smiled sweetly in gratitude. The medic ninja crouched down, and began to remove the wrapping from her wounded leg. Once he tossed the dirty wrappings aside, he peered intently over the gash. Upon the removal of the bandages, the injury began to gush warm, fresh blood again. Hinata winced at the site of it.

"It is deep, but it's not too bad. This will only take a second. Please hold still for me." The medical ninja said in a friendly tone, sensing Hinata's discomfort. Without another word, light blue chakra formed around the man's hand. He placed his glowing hand over the wound, and Hinata winced again. It stung, though not nearly as badly as before. The blood flow slowed, then eventually stopped as the skin began to stitch itself together. There was a small burning sensation, but it was gradually easing away. When the medic ninja removed his hand, Hinata's wound was perfectly healed. The only proof that an injury ever existed was a pale, skinny scar across her calf. Hinata frowned as she remembered the words of the bandit. She had her first physical scar from combat…she quickly shook her head to clear the thought. It was nothing more than a scar, just a little scar. It would more than likely fade overtime anyway.

"There. You should be okay now young lady. It will be a little tender for a few days though, be sure to ice it when you get home. And don't put too much pressure on it. Perhaps an escort home?" he suggested, turning around to take his leave. With a small bow to Hinata, then to Sandaime, the medical ninja strolled away to resume whatever it was he had been doing before he was summoned. Hinata tentatively tried to stand. She immediately flinched, and shifted her weight to her left leg. She stumbled a bit, almost losing her balance. Kiba and Shino were on either side of her in an instance, ready to catch her incase of such an accident. Hinata flushed in embarrassment, and shook her head to indicate she was fine. She went to take a shaky step forward, and stumbled again. Perhaps her leg was just a little more than, "a bit tender."

"Don't push yourself anymore Hinata. You shouldn't be walking on it yet." Shino said smoothly, putting an arm around her shoulder so she could support herself better. Hinata flushed again, embarrassed for requiring more assistance. Kiba was about to narrow his eyes, but caught himself and didn't allow it.

"Shino's right Hinata." Kiba said, strolling over to her other side and following suit. "You can always count on me and Shino to help you." Hinata merely gave a meek smile and nodded. She wasn't used to requiring so much assistance. Kurenai looked at the pair of boys and gave them a strange look. It took a moment before realization sunk in. She felt the urge to grin a little bit, but decided that wouldn't be the best idea in the world.

"Boys…It's wonderful you're a team, and you want to help your team mate, but I think she only needs one of you…" Kurenai said slowly, sensing what was going on. Maybe her comment wasn't wise; she didn't want to start a feud between the two boys.

"A...ano ne…no, it's okay, I was just s-surprised. I r-really can walk by myself…" Hinata mumbled, gently shaking away from the boys. She took a few shaky steps forward to prove her point. True, she could walk, but it looked like she was in a bit of pain. Try as she might, Hinata couldn't hide her limp. She was about to take an 8th step, when she began to topple over again. Kiba was immediately by her side and grabbed her by the arm. Not gently, but not roughly either, he yanked her up and supported her again. Hinata gave a small squeak, but made no further protests. Kurenai shook her head.

"Hinata, please, just allow Kiba to walk you home." Kurenai started, watching Hinata begin to fidget with her hoodie string. "I know you don't think you need assistance, but I'd feel more comfortable if you would accept it. It would assure you get home safely. Do you want us all to worry about you?" Kurenai asked, noting that Shino was looking miffed for the second time that day. Hinata shook her head. Kurenai didn't want to get caught up in any of this. "You are free to go, have a nice day, get some rest, okay bye." She said in a hurry, scuttling out of the office as fast as she could without running. Kiba stood there for a moment, watching Hinata fidget with her one hand. That poor hoodie string was looking ratty. She probably messed with it a lot. Kiba slowly averted his gaze to Shino, who had seemed to regain his composure.

"I'm off. Goodbye Kiba, see you tomorrow Hinata." Shino said calmly, yet somehow with an edge of stiffness. Briskly, he took long strides and exited the office. Kiba frowned a little bit. Since they had a lot of time on their hands, he was hoping he'd be able to get some training time in with his friend. But Shino left before anything was said. The only thing left to do was take Hinata home, and try to kill the rest of the day. Maybe he could take Akamaru to the river for awhile.

"A…ano…? Kiba? I'm ready to go when you are…" Hinata mumbled, giving him an anxious stare. Kiba nodded, and helped her walk through the door and back into the village. Upon his exit, he was immediately greeted by five young girls around his age. They had formed a semi-circle around the door, so he couldn't leave unless he physically pushed them aside. Kiba growled in frustration. He was in no mood to deal with a gaggle of girls. They cutely tilted their heads to the side in unison to impose a question.

"Kiba kun? Is everything okay?" the first one began with a touch of worry in her eyes. Kiba merely raised his eyebrows at the question. Why wouldn't everything be okay? He wasn't the one with an injury!

"We…couldn't help but see you_….carrying_ Hyuuga. What's up? Is she doing well?" the second one asked, her voice dripping with poisonous honey. Kiba's eyes narrowed. So that's what they wanted. They could act as casual as they want, and talked as sweetly as they want, but they could never hide their true intentions from Kiba's watchful eyes.

"Hinata's leg is hurt. She can't walk. I'm doing what any team mate would do for their friend." Kiba said stiffly. Trying to drop a hint, he brought Hinata a little closer to him and gave her a little squeeze. She didn't squeak or jump at the awkward half hug. Hinata sensed what he was trying to do. The girl's eyes narrowed for just a moment, but they quickly replaced their expressions.

"Ohhhh, she's _hurt?_ How _dreadfully _awful!" the shortest one in group drawled, eyeing Hinata with a slightly jealous expression.

"Well as long as everything's okay, right? I made you lunch Kiba kun!" The tallest blonde chirped, smiling at him sweetly and holding up a bento box. "How about you let one of _us _take dear little Hyuuga home? Then you and I can go eat lunch together! There's a perfect spot by the river, what do you say?" she asked sweetly, tapping the side of the bento box. "It's deliiiicious, it's got fried ramen and onigiri!" she coaxed, giving Kiba her cutest, most seductive grin. If she was trying to use her feminine charms on him, it definitely wasn't working. Kiba merely placed a hand on her shoulder and shoved her aside. He wasn't gentle about it either.

"Thanks, I think I've got it under control. I've already eaten." Kiba lied, pushing past them without looking back. "Why don't you ask someone else to share that lunch with you? My friends _always_ come first." He said in a tone that held a hint of coldness. The blonde's mouth gaped open in shock at his reaction. Her mother had told her the fastest way to a man's heart was through his stomach. And a little bit of innocent flirting doesn't hurt either. So why did he shun, no, downright _refuse_ her generous offer? Was she _not _completely adorable or something? Was it all for that infuriating Hyuuga girl! Kiba was walking away briskly with Hinata hobbling beside him, so she didn't have a chance to ask.

"Let it go Himeko, it's not worth it. He's made up his mind." The short one from earlier told her blonde friend. Himeko nodded, though her glare didn't evaporate. She felt so…so…thrown aside! And it was entirely that Hyuuga girl's fault too. So what if she was hurt? If it was _her _that was hurt, Himeko would have suffered to not burden Kiba sama. Angrily, she stomped away with her friends trailing behind her

"K-Kiba kun! O-onegai! Please slow down!" Hinata panted, struggling to keep up with Kiba's fast pace. "Yo-you're going too fast for me…" she said breathlessly, clinging tightly to him so she didn't pitch over. Kiba abruptly stopped. How could he have carelessly stormed off like that? Hinata was injured; he had to take it slow!

"…Sorry Hinata." Kiba mumbled, guilty for making her stride too fast. He waited patiently for her to catch her breathe before continuing the journey back to her house. Kiba hadn't meant to go so quickly, but he wanted to get Hinata away from that creepy group of fangirls. He wasn't stupid. He could clearly sense their malice and jealously. And have you ever heard what they say about hell, fury, and a scorned woman? Kiba didn't want his friend to get hurt over something so insignificant. While it's true none of those weaklings could hurt Hinata physically, there was no way she'd be able to stand up to their ridicule. She was just too insecure. Kiba wondered if it would be a good idea to keep an eye on them for awhile. After all, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. After a few moments passed, Hinata looked up to Kiba and smiled. She was ready to go. For awhile, they walked in silence. Kiba was still fuming over the encounter with his fan club. Could they not take a hint? He had to get Hinata home. What was there to be jealous of anyway? It's not like he was carrying her away to be married or something. Kiba just didn't want his tiny friend to collapse on her way home. Beside, why should he eat lunch with one of those snobbish looking girls anyway? Girls like that are all the same. Pretty faces with no real thoughts of their own; other than to date a hot guy.

"Kiba kun…?" Hinata asked softly, watching her friend with large pale eyes. "F-forgive me for bothering you but…you seem upset. D-did those g-girls say something to make you angry…?" she questioned cautiously. Kiba merely smirked at this. Hinata was a girl; she couldn't understand the problem with female fan bases. But she could understand his irritation, and it did make her concerned. For this, Kiba was grateful.

"Well, just a little bit." He lied, trying to seem like he wasn't irritated anymore. "I was trying to get you home safely, and they were hindering that." Kiba explained, though that just barely scratched the surface of his fury. Hinata blinked, then nodded as if she understood.

"I u-understand Kiba-kun…but it's a bit sad…" Hinata said softly.

"What is?" Kiba asked.

"Those girls….e-especially the blonde one…t-they were talking to y-you because…well…I think they _like _you K-Kiba kun." She stammered, embarrassed with pointing this out. Kiba smirked again. That much was obvious to him.

"Heh. Well maybe. But it was still annoying. Friends come first. Besides, I don't care about girls like that. I think they're shallow and crude." Kiba admitted, biting the inside of his cheek. Did that seem rude to say? Akamaru barked as if to confirm this fact. Hinata blinked again, and gave Kiba an interesting look. It was a look mixed with curiosity, embarrassment, and perhaps, _perhaps,_ just a touch of sadness.

"Kiba k-kun….d-do you….do you have….s-someone important t-to you?" she asked, stumbling over the sentence. It was an awkward thing to ask. Kiba tensed up at the question. He almost stopped abruptly in his tracks. He could feel his heart pounding nervously in his chest. Wait, nervously? Why was he nervous? It was such a simple question. Did he have anyone important to him? A warm blush swept upon his face. Well, did he? Kiba opened his mouth, unsure of what he was going to say. A lump had formed in this throat, and his response died before it could reach his lips. It didn't much matter though, as Hinata had stopped walking and jerked Kiba back into reality.

"N-Naruto kun..." she whispered, her eyes opening wide. She began to fidget with her free hand. It's true, Naruto was sitting on a bench just a few feet away from them. He seemed to be in mild pain, groaning and clutching at his stomach. Hinata gave Kiba an anxious look. With an expressionless face, he slowly nodded and removed his arm from her shoulder. Still in pain, she slowly stumbled over to the bench.

"Dammit, he was right when he said no mercy…" Naruto was mumbling to himself. Hinata stopped before him, blushing madly. She was shy, but her concern for Naruto easily over-powered this shyness.

"N-N-Naruto k-kun…" Hinata stammered, doing her classic forefinger fidget. "W-what's wrong…? You don't look so good…" Naruto looked up to see who was talking to him.

"Oh, hi Hinata." Naruto said with only half the enthusiasm he usually held in his voice. "A few days ago, I kinda had a ramen eating spree with Sasuke-teme. I'm still feeling it. I think I might have food poisoning or something…" Naruto groaned with his hand still clutched to his stomach. Hinata was about to say, "Oh, I knew about that. I was cleaning the dishes that day." But blushed even deeper and decided against it. She didn't want him to know she had been quietly watching him through the window. "Even worse, that bastard of a sensei isn't showing us any mercy. You think he'd be a little kinder to someone who inhaled so much ramen." Naruto complained, he expression scrunched and annoyed. Hinata gave a small giggle. She distinctly remembered Kakashi-sensei had warned them they would receive no mercy if they felt sick after the contest. Before she could say anything to this however, Naruto had stood up and began to walk away. "I'm going to go home now and rest a bit. Nice talking to you Hinata." He called to her, stumbling away looking like he was going to be sick. Hinata stood on the spot and watched him leave. As Naruto walked by Kiba, Kiba could feel himself glaring at Naruto. However, he didn't want Hinata to see this. So he quickly wiped the expression off his face and quickly strolled forward to assist his shy friend. Pain was still attacking her leg, and she had sat down shortly after Naruto had taken his leave. Kiba reached out a hand to help her to her feet. Smiling sweetly, she accepted and allowed herself to be pulled up. Her face was still pink with her encounter from Naruto. "_I…I talked to him! And he talked back…" _Hinata thought to herself with glee. Kiba could sense her affection and felt himself grow a bit cold. It was a like a monster was cackling in glee, and stabbing his sharp little spear at Kiba. What did she see in him anyway…? Naruto was anything but a good match for her was Kiba's opinion. He was loud, rambunctious, and most of all annoying. Always jumping around exclaiming about how he was going to be some great Hokage someday. No matter how he looked at it, Kiba could just not understand Hinata's strange attraction for Naruto. Whatever the reason was, the encounter had clearly put Hinata's heads in the clouds. She completely forgot about the question she had asked him. They continued back to Hinata's home in silence.

"Do you want me to help you inside?" Kiba asked with an expressionless face. Hinata merely shook her head.

"Ill be okay now I think. Thank you so much for helping me today Kiba-kun. Will you thank Shino kun for me too, if you see him today?" she asked, with a small courteous bow. Kiba nodded. Hinata smiled in response, and softly shut the door behind her. Wasting no time, Kiba turned around and swiftly began his walk home.

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Shift a little more to the right. No, that didn't help. Maybe if he rolled onto his other side. No, that didn't help either. Grunting in irritation, he tried to fluff his pillows in a vain attempt to make them softer. Akamaru whined, annoyed with all the movement from his master. Kiba ignored Akamaru for the time being, and let his head flop back into the pillow. The fluffing really didn't help. He still felt restless. The urge to roll over and switch sleeping positions ever 15 seconds was strong.

"Okay, enough! I give up!" Kiba cried, sitting up and turning on his lamp to illuminate his room. The clock read 2:21 in the morning. Akamaru gave Kiba a look of protest, and grabbed one of his pillows with his teeth. Grunting a bit, he jumped off the bed, taking the pillow with him. He dragged it to the center of the room, and flopped down on it.

"Sorry Akamaru. I just can't get to sleep. Dammit, I'm going to be so tired tomorrow…" he grunted, lying back down to stare at the ceiling. It's not_ his_ fault he couldn't sleep. He still felt irritated and disappointed. Every time he shut his eyes, the events of the day played through his head. Hinata getting injured, carrying her around, dealing with some fangirls, and the raw jealousy that attacked his chest when Hinata approached Naruto.

_"Kiba k-kun….d-do you….do you have….s-someone important t-to you?" Hinata asked, stumbling over the sentence. _The question kept relentlessly pounding through Kiba's brain, refusing to grant him sleep. Did he? Thinking about life a little bit, he noticed that not many male ninja's his age did. Sure, a lot of them seemed to be infatuated with fellow team mates, but they all seemed to be in un-requited love. Hinata liked Naruto, Naruto liked Sakura, Sakura liked Sasuke, Ino liked Sasuke, and TenTen liked Neji, though she would never admit it…so what about him? Did he hold anyone dear to him?

"Akamaru, you're lucky you're a dog." Kiba mumbled, rubbing at his sleepy eyes. Akamaru gave Kiba a look that obviously meant, "Of course I'm lucky." Kiba sighed, and rolled over again. Matters like these weren't easy to comprehend for him. Physically, he was a powerful ninja. For a genin anyway. But ask him about matters of the heart, and he becomes as weak as a white belt. He had never been good at controlling, or identifying his own feelings. Maybe it just wasn't worth it. Sighing again, he once more gave the clock a desperate look. 2:24 am. Growling in irritation, Kiba buried his head under his pillow and tried to shut his brain down. It wasn't working.

_"You can't run from your emotions stupid." A voice mocked in Kiba's head. "You're just upset because you can't explain your jealously and irritation. Well, let me spell it out perfectly clear for you. You-"_

"Shut up!" Kiba yelled in fury. "I just. Want to SLEEP. I don't want to think right now! I-"Kiba cut himself off and froze. It was 2:30 in the morning. And he was _yelling. _What if he woke someone up? He listened intently for a moment, but couldn't identify any noises. Sighing, Kiba relaxed and buried his face in his pillow again.

_"I wonder….if I do have a special someone…" _was the last though that drifted across his mind before falling into a restless sleep. Akamaru grunted unhappily. Kiba had forgotten to turn off the lamp….

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A/N: Well, 90 of all stories at have a boring chapter. Here's mine. It was entirely too short. I didn't know what to do! It was either have one chapter entirely too long, or break it off into two smaller chapters. The first idea didn't appeal to me. And now the second one isn't either. Lovely. Grar, it was so boring. I didn't even want to proof read it. And now I suppose it's time to move into chuunin exams…. (Sighs) it feels too early, but their relationship doesn't develop a lot until the chuunin exams. And I really, reeeeally want to start getting deeper into their relationship. So, forward we go. I should probably start warning about spoilers for the people watching the toonami anime.

The insomnia scene was easy to write for Kiba. I'm a major insomniac, and I can never sleep easily. I feel kinda like I'm putting myself into Kiba's personality a little bit. Is that weird? I cant' identify my own emotions, nor can I control them. I always bite my lip or cheek when I'm trying to hide them. Mhmm. Okay, enough babble already. I'm going to start writing chapter 4 now. Thanks again to all my lovely reviewers. You guys are the life blood for this story!


	5. Chapter 4

**My Guardian Wolf; Chapter IV**

_To my reviewers:_ I'm very, _very_ sorry I didn't have the time to respond to your reviews from last chapter! (cries) But I wanted to post this up right away! But it's comforting to type a story knowing at least a few people actually like it enough to stick with it. As long as I have just a few fans, this story shall live on! Thank you all so much for your kindness.

**Disclaimer: **And as always, I still do not, and never will, own Naruto! For this we should all be grateful. I only own this story! Steal it, (though I don't know why you'd want to) and I'm going to mentally poke your brain until it itches. And you won't be able to scratch it, for it will be inside your skull. Thank you.

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The next morning, Kiba had a terrible time dragging himself out of bed. He had finally fallen asleep somewhere around 2:30am, and had to get up four hours later at 6:30. When the alarm clock had screeched its horrible melody, Kiba promptly yanked it out of the wall. Soon after, the alarm clock met a terrible fate of being thrown against the closet door. Rubbing his tired eyes, Kiba decided he was going to be selfish today and go back to sleep. Akamaru did not grant him this opportunity. He promptly jumped on top of the bed, and stuck his wet nose in Kiba's face. Kiba woke again with a start and sat straight up. Akamaru almost went flying off the bed. Kiba almost considered going back to sleep for a 2nd time, but he figured Akamaru would not allow it. Grudgingly, threw himself out of bed and blindly groped around on the floor for his jacket. Upon finding it, Kiba reached into his dresser drawer and grabbed whatever happened to be lying on top. After a quick shower and a few bites of breakfast, Kiba was scuffling out of his house and to the usual meeting place.

"_Today is going to absolutely suck." _Kiba thought bitterly to himself, dragging his feet along. He was completely and utterly exhausted, and in no mood to go out on a mission. Or even do training for that matter. Maybe he could play sick or something. Kiba pondered this for a moment, then shrugged and decided against it. Last time he tried to play sick, he failed miserably and his father was not pleased. Kiba's mind began to gradually shut down, and turned on auto pilot. It's a good thing Kiba had walked to this damned bridge so many times; otherwise he would have crashed into several non soft things. Like trees. Or rocks. But especially trees.

"OW! Son of a BITCH!" Kiba growled, rubbing at his sore nose. Kiba had actually made it to the bridge, but forgot to turn "auto-pilot" off, so he ended up smashing into a tree anyway. Thankfully, he had arrived first as usual. So no one was there to witness this embarrassing act. Akamaru whined, and barked suggestively. "Yes, YES. I _know_ it's bleeding Akamaru, _thank you_." Kiba grumbled, fumbling for a bandage in his beige pouch. He obviously had forgotten to re-stock, because he couldn't find any. Cursing under his breath, Kiba stomped over to the stream and kneeled down. He was greeted by his own, blurry and grumpy looking reflection. Kiba noticed that his eyes looked red, and there were small, dark rings beneath them. A small stream of fresh blood was pouring down the cut on the bridge of his nose. Thankfully, it didn't look broken, but it was tender none the less. All in all, he looked like hell. Reaching down, Kiba cupped his hands together and got a handful of cool, clear water. He used it to scrub at his face and his nose. It helped, a little anyway. But his nose wouldn't stop bleeding. Standing up, he bit down at the end of his sweatshirt. He was ready to tear off a strip and use it to stop the bleeding, but…

"Ah! K-Kiba-kun! You're bleeding!" Hinata exclaimed, dashing over to inspect his nose. Kiba blinked in surprise. He was so out of it he didn't even hear, or smell, Hinata approaching. Before he could say anything, she had pulled out a white rag and was pressing it firmly over the scratch.

"Oh…Morning Hinata." Kiba said absent-mindedly, noticing the worried look in Hinata's eyes. She really was quite sweet and considerate. If someone gets hurt, (other than herself of course,) she'd be the first one to do anything about it. Maybe she should be a medical ninja instead of just a regular shinobi.

"K-Kiba-kun, what on e-earth did you do to your nose…?" Hinata asked with concern in her voice. She paused for a moment to remove the rag and inspect the scratch a bit closer. It was still bleeding a little, so she pressed it back on. Curiously, Hinata gazed at Kiba's face. He looked like he had been drained of his energy. Absent-mindedly, she reached up and touched one of the rings under his eyes. Kiba tensed up for a moment, then relaxed. Her fingers felt cool and pleasant under his tired eye. "K-Kiba Kun, y-you look sick." Hinata said hesitantly, removing her finger and the white cloth. "Ah, could it be that you _are_ sick!" she asked, beginning to panic and reaching up to feel his forehead.

"H-Hinata! I'm not sick!" Kiba exclaimed, slightly startled to see her panicking over something so insignificant.

"B-but Kiba-kun! You look terrible! You need to go home and r-rest! Right now!" she said in a voice that _almost_ sounded demanding. She grabbed his arm and began to tug on it, as if to drag him away. "C-come on. Let's go! I-I'll take you home, then I'll tell Kurenai sens-"

"No! Really, I'm _fine!_" Kiba said, trying to tug his arm back. He was starting to lose control of his emotions again. "I just…uh…didn't sleep well last night, and uh…the nose, well uh…." He stopped, unwilling to finish his sentence. How ridiculous would it sound to say, "I crashed into a tree?" He didn't want to face that embarrassment.

"If you didn't sleep well, you would be of no use on a mission anyway. Why don't you take Hinata's advice?" Shino remarked coolly, walking up to greet his two friends. Kiba inwardly scowled. That was the second time this morning someone had managed to sneak up on him like that. But then again, didn't Shino always appear un-detected?

"Good morning to you too Shino." Kiba replied sarcastically. An awkward silence for an awkward situation followed. Hinata was still clinging to Kiba's arm, Kiba looked sick, Akamaru was whining and pawing at Kiba's leg, and Shino had no idea what to say or do to any of it. No one spoke for a few minutes. They all merely looked at each other. Hinata could feel face flushing. She must have looked _ridiculous_. Kiba was mentally debating on whether or not he wanted his arm back. Akamaru was looking expectantly at Shino as if to say, "…Will you please _do _something?"

"Well well. Good morning Kiba, Shino, Hinata. Kiba, you look like hell." Kurenai added, clutching three sheets of paper while eyeing her group suspiciously. It was as if someone flipped on a switch, or hit a button. Everybody whirled around to face Kurenai, and began to chatter at once.

"K-Kurenai sensei! I-It's terrible! Kiba-kun is-"

"No, really! I'm not, I just didn't-"

"Sensei, what's today's mission?"

"Arf! Arf!"

"N-no! K-Kiba-kun is being un-truthful b-because of his pride! He-"

"Hinata, please, I'm alright-"

"N-no! No you're not!"

"Sensei, what are those three papers you're holding?"

"Kurenai sensei, p-please allow me to-"

"Hey, everyone? CALM DOWN A SECOND!" Kurenai shouted over the chatter, silencing the group instantly. She sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. They hadn't been this energetic in a long time. "One at a time, please. I can't listen to all three of you at once. Hinata first!" she added sharply, upon noticing they all opened their mouths to speak again.

"K-Kurenai sensei. I-I think Kiba-kun is ill. He l-looks terrible and his nose was bleeding just a few seconds ago. I…I'd like to…take him…home…" she trailed off, blushing at her statement. Kurenai nodded, and then faced Kiba and nodded at him.

"I didn't get much sleep last night, but I'm not sick. My nose is fine, and I don't think I need to go home. "Kiba said firmly, giving his arm another tug. Hinata still clung to it.

"Okay, what about you Shino?" Kurenai asked.

"I merely wanted to know today's mission, and inquire what those papers you are holding are." He said simply with the usual expressionless face. "Though I would also like to mention, that I agree with Hinata." He added, noting that this only flustered Kiba more.

"I _said _I'm fine." Kiba said stubbornly. "I appreciate the concern, bu-"

"There _is_ no mission today Shino!" Kurenai cut him off, with a huge, cheerful grin. Everyone was about to start bickering again, but Kurenai quickly cut them off by shoving a sheet of paper under their noses. "Today we have paper work." she elaborated, watching Kiba's face fall. Paperwork, lovely. Just what every healthy young ninja loves. With a sigh, Kiba squinted his tired eyes and began to scan over the words on the paper. They didn't make sense at first. Partially because Kiba was having trouble seeing, and partially because the information the words contained seemed unlikely. He read over the title again. And again. And again. For some reason, he just…couldn't grasp the concept.

"Kurenai sensei…? Is this some kind of joke?" Kiba asked suspiciously. "Cause if it is, it's not very funny. I-"

"No, it's true." Kurenai replied pleasantly. "I'm allowing you three to participate in the chuunin selection exams." A small, stunned silence followed. When was _that _decided? Chuunin selections exams are a vital time in a ninja's life! Well, that is, if you're about 13 years old and a genin. Sometime after that they kinda become a memory.

"K-Kurenai sensei? W-when was this decided…?" Hinata asked tentatively, clutching her paper tightly.

"Just a few hours ago as a matter of fact." She replied. "I believe that all of you have shown excellent growth and improvement, and that this will be a wonderful opportunity for you. Well, it IS your first time, so I'm not expecting perfection. You might not make it." Kurenai said with a sigh, running her hand through her hair again. Upon noticing Hinata's worried look, she quickly added, "That doesn't mean plan for failure though! Lots of rookie ninjas have made it through on their first try, and-"

"And _I'm _gonna be one of them! YES! Woo-hoo!" Kiba shouted with joy, pumping his fists through the air. It was funny how a simple sheet of paper had given Kiba such a sudden burst of energy. It was almost as if his exhaustion never existed. He continued to babble on like this for a few minutes until Hinata decided to speak up.

"K-Kurenai sensei…do we _have _to participate…?" Hinata asked unsurely, looking flustered and anxious. Kurenai smiled at this query.

"No, of course not. But know this…" Kurenai began, trying to look comforting and serious at the same time. It was an odd facial expression, so she decided to just try being serious. "I would never, _never, _give anyof you this opportunity if I wasn't _completely_ convinced you were ready. You've all grown a lot, and you're different from the ninjas you were when you first graduated from the academy. These exams will only give you a push in the proper direction, whether you pass _or _fail." Kurenai turned around and began to walk away. "Think about it before you immediately decide. If you want to participate, I expect you all to meet outside the front door of the selection exam building this time tomorrow. Farewell." Kurenai finished. She slowly walked away for a moment, and then paused as if she forgot to mention something. "Oh, and Kiba? Go home and sleep. Please. You look like a wreck. In fact…" she began to add thoughtfully, feeling her mischievous side bubble up. "I want you to take him home Hinata. You know, just to make sure he goes to bed right away." Kurenai said with a sly grin, getting her desired reaction from the genin. Kiba's mouth dropped open and began to silently move up and down. No words would form. Hinata bowed her head to hide her facial expression. Kiba tried to shake off the shock.

"WHAT! But WHY! I don't need to be treated like a baby, I need-"

"To go home and get some sleep. Good-bye now!" And with that, Kurenai quickly walked away before further arguing could occur. Maybe that order wasn't such a good idea. But while she would have never liked to admit it, Kurenai loved watching this little miniature soap opera unfold.

"…I suppose I'm leaving then. Good bye you two." Shino said in a slightly irritated voice. Neither was given the chance to return the farewell, for Shino strode away in a very quick manner. A brief pause of silence occurred before Hinata spoke up.

"A-ano….Kiba kun…do you need me to s-support you while I take you h-home?"

"N…No. I'm fine."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"K-Kiba kun? I…I can't locate any medicine…"

Groggily, Kiba forced himself to sit up and face Hinata. They had arrived at the Inuzuka residence about 5 minutes prior, and the first thing Kiba did was crawl into bed. He didn't even bother to change into his pajamas. Hinata, still convinced that he was actually ill, had scuttled off into the house in search of medicine. Kiba didn't know what she was doing, nor did he care. Now, he just wanted to rest a little bit…

"Wha…why do you need medicine? Don't tell me you're getting sick Hinata…" Kiba groaned, knowing full well this wasn't the case. She couldn't have gotten sick so quickly.

"A-ano….not for me…for _you _Kiba kun." Hinata mumbled, looking worried and still in a slight panic. Kiba merely sighed, and flopped back into his soft pillows.

"…Don't think we have any…" he lied, not wanting to take any medicine for a sickness he didn't have. Akamaru was tempted to bark and lead Hinata to the medicine cabinet. You know, just to get back at Kiba for the wet dog training a couple days ago. But he decided to be a good little doggy and not blow his master's cover.

"Wh-what? That's terrible! How can y-you not have any medicine?" Hinata asked frantically, waving her hands around as though she could magically pull medicine out of thin air. Realizing how silly she must have looked, she ceased her panic attack. "T-then I'm g-going to make something. P-please wait here a moment Kiba kun…" Hinata mumbled, scuffling her way out of the room before he could say no. Kiba sighed again, and shifted positions. It was kind of nice to know someone was fussing over him and trying to care for him. Thoughts of the chuunin exams ran wildly through his head.

"_Do I want to enter the chuunin exams? Of course I do! I'm one of the best rookies out there!" _Kiba silently told himself, day-dreaming about how smoothly things would go. There would be a lot of fighting of course. Maybe free for alls, or one on one matches. But either way worked fine for him. He would use his killer new jutsus he had been working on to blow the competition out of the water. In a way, he kind of felt sorry for the other rookies. "_Heh. They won't know what hit them…"_ Kiba thought arrogantly, smiling at the thought of becoming a chuunin so easily. Maybe he would even be allowed to fight against Naruto. Then he could show Hinata how a true-

"_Wait a minute. What about Hinata?" _he pondered to himself. "_She seems reluctant to take these exams…if she doesn't take them, and I become a chuunin…we won't be on the same team anymore." _The thought unsettled him. He, Shino, and Hinata had been a team for what felt like a long time now. He worked well with them, and they all fought hard to support each other. How strange would it be if they didn't fight side by side anymore…?

"_Well it's not like you'll never see her again if that happens. Besides, maybe she will take them. Who knows?" _ Kiba told himself firmly. Still, a cold feeling ran up his spine at the thought of not being on the same team anymore. They wouldn't train side by side anymore, nor would they fight together anymore. No…that's not it. Kiba knew that wasn't it. Training and fighting had nothing to do with it. The true reason he felt dread with the situation was, because...they wouldn't _be together _anymore. She would go to a new team, with new genins, and he couldn't watch her back anymore. He…might begin to lose site of her. At this thought, Kiba quickly sat up and put a head to his sore forehead.

"W-wait a minute. That wouldn't be…" Kiba began to mutter incoherently.

"Hmm? Did you say something Kiba-kun?" Hinata's sweet and pleasant voice asked. Kiba looked up and saw that Hinata had re-entered the room, and was holding a tray and a stool. She dragged the stool across the floor, and sat it down next to Kiba's bed. She took her seat, then took a steaming cup off the tray and handed it to Kiba. He gave it a sniff. It was some kinda herbal tea. And it smelled really, _really _good.

"A-ah, Kiba-kun, please be careful it's…" Kiba paid no attention and downed the tea quickly. "…i-it's hot…" Hinata's quiet warning faded away. Smiling, Kiba handed the cup back to Hinata.

"That was good. I feel kinda warm inside now. What was that?" Kiba asked curiously.

"A-ah…It was an herbal t-tea that I learned how to make a long time ago. I-It helps with colds and makes the person go to sleep e-easier…" she said, staring down at the empty cup. "D-do you need some more…?"

"Naw, I'm good. I already feel like I'm going to nod off any second as it is. It was good. Thank you Hinata." Kiba said, grinning with gratitude. Hinata blushed slightly at the compliment and began to fiddle with the empty cup. Both genins stayed quiet for a moment before Kiba spoke up again.

"Hinata, you don't have to stay anymore if you don't want to. I'm going to go to sleep in a few minutes anyway. You can leave." Kiba offered, suppressing a yawn. Hinata furiously shook her head.

"N-no! Kurenai sensei told me to s-stay until you fell asleep…! And…and I don't want y-you to get any s-sicker…" she stuttered. Kiba decided to not argue. No one had listened to him say he wasn't sick anyway. Why argue now? Instead, he decided to impose a question that had been bugging him for the past few minutes.

"Hinata…are you going to take the chuunin exams…?" Kiba asked slowly, unsure of how she would take the question. She stiffened a little bit, but showed no other signs of discomfort.

"W-well….I…" Hinata stammered, unsure of how to begin. "I…I'd _like_ to, yes…but I don't think I should. That would be a p-poor choice on my part…"

"What!" Kiba practically shouted, startling Akamaru out of his nap. "Why not! You should! You're a strong kunoichi Hinata! You have a lot of room to grow, but we all do! I think you'd do great! And you heard Kurenai, it would be a great chance to grow even more; whether you pass or fail!" Kiba exclaimed, desperate to convince her. Hinata's eyes widened a little and felt her face growing warm. She fidgeted a bit before responding.

"Oh…K-Kiba kun…I…." she stuttered, beginning to feel pathetic and helpless. "I-I'd love to believe that but…I honestly don't think I'm good enough!" she cried out sadly, bowing her head in shame. "I still mess up a lot on s-simple things, and things don't always g-go well with training. A-and the _best_ are going to be there! N-ninjas like N-Naruto kun and Neji nii-san..." Kiba raised his eyebrows in surprise. He didn't know that Neji was her brother. Hinata took a deep, shuddering breath before continuing to reveal her fears and anxieties. "I-I know I've improved…b-but it's still not enough! I'm still…I'm still…"

"No!" Kiba said firmly, shaking his head. "You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for! We all screw up sometimes Hinata! But your ability to smell, your stamina, Jyuuken, and kunai skills are becoming remarkable, aren't they?" Kiba asked, trying to get Hinata to look up. He hated seeing her head bent down in shame like that. "Your only problem right now is your lack of confidence! Hinata, if you would just try to look at things from a different angle…" he trailed off. Hinata still gave no response. Kiba sighed, knowing that this pep talk wasn't going to get through to her. He had to try another approach. Anything, _anything _to convince her she _was_ good enough. Abruptly, Kiba sat up and shifted himself until he was facing Hinata. Hesitantly, he extended his hand and gently grabbed hold of her chin. She didn't respond. Slowly, Kiba rose up her chin and forced her to make eye contact. Her silvery eyes looked paler than usual, and threatened to spill over with tears. Kiba felt pity for her well up in his heart. How could she possibly think she wasn't strong enough?

"Hinata…" he said slowly, his face a mere inch away from her own. "Look at me. Look at me in the eye and tell me, "Kiba, I'm not good enough." He said softly, waiting for her response. She blinked, and acting like she wanted to avert her gaze elsewhere. She wasn't going to get the chance to though. It was obvious Kiba wasn't going to let her. Hinata opened her mouth, and tried to form words. A lump had formed in her throat. Partially because of what Kiba had told her to do. And also because their faces had become so close. She could feel her heart beating almost out of control in her chest with mixed emotions. There was sadness, hope, pain, and strength…

"K-Kiba…" she stuttered, dropping the suffix; perhaps on purpose or on accident. "I…I am…n-not…I…" Hinata trailed off, and tightly squeezed her eyes shut. In that instant, Hinata realized she couldn't say it. It would be a lie to say she wasn't good enough. What made her realize that? Kiba's eyes…they were pretty. Probably even prettier than Naruto's. A deep, wolfish shade of brown compared to a bright, azure blue. And in that instant, that tiny little instant, those wolfish eyes gave her more strength than Naruto ever did. "K-Kiba…I…I _am_. I'm…good enough. I can do it…" She whispered softly, not allowing her tears of doubt to leak down her face. She opened her eyes to meet Kiba's intense gaze. She was greeted with Kiba's classic, wolfish grin of joy.

"Good. That's what I thought." Kiba said with his big grin still plastered across his face. He released her chin, and gave her a few encouraging pats on the head. "You're gonna be just fine Hinata. Let's give it our all, okay…?" Kiba said sleepily, falling back into his pillows. He spoke no more. It seemed as though the tea had finally taken its effects. Kiba's chest rose and collapsed in a slow, steady rhythm. He was definitely asleep. Hinata gave him one of her rare, true and genuine smiles. Such a pity he wasn't awake to see it. Kiba had given her strength. And for this, she was grateful. Before she left, she reached down and removed his shoes from his feet. When I said Kiba hadn't changed into his pajamas, I meant he hadn't even taken off his shoes. She set them down by the foot of the bed and wiped away her tears before they could spill over

"Good night Kiba….Goodnight Akamaru…" she whispered to the pair before turning around and quietly leaving. She didn't cry, she didn't doubt, and most of all, she didn't stutter.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Shino was a very strange guy. At least, that's what one who didn't know him would always assume. If he wasn't training, he was either nowhere to be found, or wandering about Konoha aimlessly. On rare occasions, he could be seen with his friend Inuzuka Kiba, but this was usually only for the sake of training. Not to mention the way he always dressed. Dark sunglasses kept a gorgeous pair of eyes hidden. A long neck on his coat kept part of his attractive face covered away. He rarely talked. And when he did, it was in that deep, smooth voice of his. Villagers thought he was strange. Ninja rookies knew he was one to be treated with respect. And fan girls saw him as some kind of priceless treasure; one worth much more than Uchiha Sasuke or Hyuuga Neji.

As of right now, Shino was doing one of the things he does best; taking a walk through Konoha. He was on his way home to get some rest, and discuss the chuunin exams with his father; though doubtless his father probably already knew. He had already had to shake of some _creepy_ fan girls who called themselves, "The Aburame Shino Investigation Squad." Today their, "mission", was to try and figure out why Aburame Shino was in deeper thought that usual. Even if they had been quiet enough to stalk-err, follow him around Konoha, they wouldn't have figured out way. No one could break down Shino's barriers. The fans didn't even realize that they had been following around a doppelganger for the past half hour. Nor did they realize this clone was walking the complete opposite direction from Shino's destination.

The real Shino, as I have said, was strolling through Konoha deep in thought. The chuunin exams we're still fresh in his mind. _"I'm definitely going to enter, and I'm positive Kiba is too. Though I must wonder if Hinata is going to." _Shino mused. He too had realized that if Hinata didn't take the exams, he most likely wouldn't be on her team anymore. I mean after all, chances are very high that he would become an excellent chuunin. Not being on the same team with Hinata meant he wouldn't have a reason to see her everyday. This troubled him for some reason. Then again, it was Hinata's choice. Only she knew her true limits and capabilities. If she truly thought she wasn't ready, then maybe she wasn't. He was the last person on earth, next to Kiba of course, who would want to rush her into something she wasn't ready for. He wondered if he should confront her about the exams. You know, maybe give her a little encouragement. Who knows? It couldn't hurt. Maybe she just lacked confidence.

Speaking of Hinata, Shino noticed her a little ways down the path. She was in a conversation, no…heated argument with a couple of annoyed looking girls. Familiar girls too…where had Shino seen them before? Much to his distaste, he noticed that the tallest blonde girl was _yelling _at Hinata. And of course, Hinata was doing the only thing she could do. She was flinching. They had formed a semi-circle around her, and looked as though they'd like nothing more than to crush the poor girl trembling before them. Shino felt a deep anger rise in his chest in a rare spurt of emotion. He swiftly took long strides over to the group to help his team mate. Those girls were _not _going to get away with this.

"What do you think you're doing, hanging all over Kiba sama anyway you freakish brat!" the one who called herself Himeko snapped at Hinata. Hinata could feel herself trembling violently. _"Say something…! T-tell them off…!" Hinata willed herself, but she could think of nothing to say. _"You probably think you're _soooo _special, _just _because Kiba sama was kind enough to carry you around like you were some kinda little princess!" Himeko continued, glaring down at Hinata. Himeko's friends furiously nodded in agreement. "Well he was just being nice! Kiba-sama is a _very _kind person! He probably just felt sorry for you since you're such an _ugly _freak!" she spat, advancing on Hinata. Hinata felt herself shrink under the girl's murderous eyes. Why we're they being so cruel to her…? What did she ever say or do to them…? She didn't even know their names! Before she could answer her own question, the verbal attack of Kiba's fangirls continued. "We don't care if you love him! We love him more! He would NEVER fall for an ugly brat like you anyway! And we don't care if you're one of his fellow team mates! You don't deserve it! You burden Kiba with your presence, and that _cannot _be tolerated!" Wait a minute. Hinata love Kiba? Hinata never said that. Still slightly in shock from her fear, the comment didn't register in Hinata's brain.

"Yeah! That's right! You tell her Himeko!" the shortest brunette in the group encouraged. Himeko smiled a cold smile at her friend.

"Thank you Junko. Now YOU!" Himeko growled, taking a step towards Hinata. In response, Hinata took a step back. "You stay AWAY from Kiba sama from now on! Or else we'll make your life a living hell! The only time you're allowed to speak to him is when you're on your little missions! And even then, you _can't _talk to him unless it's necessary! GOT IT!" Himeko screamed at her, emphasizing certain words to get her point across. At this ridiculous remark, Hinata felt her trembling abruptly cease. Stay…away from Kiba? What gave _them _the right to tell her that? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Hinata closed her eyes for a moment and thought. The first image that came to her mind was Kiba's wolfish grin and his deep brown eyes. Stay away from Kiba? How could she ever do that? After all he had done for her? She couldn't do it. She _wouldn't_ do it.

"…I refuse." Hinata said simply, looking Himeko in the eye with a blank expression. Himeko blinked. She was taken aback. Did Hyuuga just tell her she refused…? This insignificant unworthy _bitch, _dared to defy her authority? It infuriated her. She heard her friends gasp in shock at the simple sentence Hinata had uttered. White hot anger flashed in Himeko's eyes. She raised her hand up as if to smack Hinata across the face.

"Your mistake you arrogant little bitch!" she snarled, bringing down her hand to slap Hinata's cheek. Hinata's fighting instincts immediately perked up. She got into a Hyuuga back stance. She was ready for anything this _prissy_ non kunoichi could dish out. She was ready to defend herself, and her rights to stand by Kiba's side. She knew it would be an easy battle. These girls had no training whatsoever. "Then your just gonna have to-" Himeko began.

"Deal with me." Shino uttered in a deadly calm voice. He reached up and roughly grabbed Himeko's wrist. Shino wanted nothing more than the take that delicate, skinny wrist and crack it in two. He dug his nails into her, and a small stream of blood began to creep out of the small wounds. Himeko screamed as if she was stabbed with a knife. She desperately tried to yank her wrist back. Shino responded by tightening his icy grip. A small swarm of bugs crawled eagerly out of his sleeve and skittered across Himeko's hand.

"AIYEE! Oh my gawd! BUGS! Gross! Get them off! GET THEM OFF!" She screamed at Shino. He ignored her completely, overtaken by his fury. He merely summoned another small storm of bugs. These ones crawled over to the other 4 girls in the group. He made sure he sent out some of the largest males he had. He knew that most non-ninja females were intimidated by large insects. The other girls shouted and tried to smash the bugs that skittered across them. The bugs were too quick, and dodged their simple and crude attacks.

"If you continue to scream, resist, or try to run away, I'll have them kill you." Shino said icily, raising his arms up in a threatening manner. The girl's cries caught in their throats. They were silent, some of them on the brink of tears. Of course, Shino was bluffing. He would never kill non fighters. But _they_ didn't know that. "You. What gives you the right to say such things to Hinata?" he inquired, casually circling the group of girls. They were frozen like statues in their fear. "You girls are the, "arrogant little bitches; picking on a small, shy girl because of your _disgusting_ jealousy." He growled, calling out more bugs to frighten them. His anger was not satiated. He then walked back up to Himeko, and glared daggers at her through his sunglasses.

"If you ever approach Hinata again…I'll have no choice but to take more drastic measures" Shino said, commanding a trio of bugs to jump on her face. She squealed. Shino glared. "Apologize to Hinata. And never come near her again." Shino ordered them coldly. He was tempted to tell them, "Get on your knees and beg for her forgiveness", but he knew Hinata would never want that. One by one, the girls walked over to Hinata and looked at her with unreadable faces.

"…Sorry." Himeko muttered like a scolded child. The other girls nodded, and gave out meek apologies. Shino called the bugs back. "Go." He commanded them. And that was all it took. The girls sprinted away from Shino as fast as their skinny legs could carry them. When he was sure they were out of sight, Shino turned around to face a very shocked looking Hinata.

"S-Shino kun…" Hinata stuttered, sounding amazed. Shino had just scared a bunch of girls senseless with a few words and a couple of bugs. He didn't even need to raise his voice. Hinata was very certain she would never see Himeko again, and it was thanks to Shino. He just went out of his way to stand up for her. That…was rare for Shino, unless it was on the battlefield. "I…I don't know how to say thank you…" she said meekly, bowing her head. Shino gave a tiny smirk. It would have looked like a smile if you squinted and got glasses.

"I was just helping my team mate. Think nothing of it. I'm sorry those girls were so cruel to you." Shino said coolly, putting a hand on her shoulder. Hinata rose from her bow, and smiled a sweet, genuine smile for the second time that day.

"I-I really don't know what happened…" Hinata mumbled, doing her classic forefinger fidget. "I-I was just on my way home, and they started bothering me about Kiba. I m-mean, I understand they _l-like _him, but…but…"

"It's okay Hinata. You didn't deserve that. They struck out at you in jealously. Though I don't think they'll be bothering you again." Shino said calmly, and Hinata nodded. He was probably right. "But…just to be sure, would you feel more comfortable if I walked you the rest of the way home?" he asked in what he hoped sounded casual. Hinata smiled and nodded. Hinata's house was not far from here, but she would like the company. After all, Kiba had walked her home before. Now she had the chance to walk with Shino too. Lucky her!

"So….Hinata, did you intend on taking the chuunin exams?" Shino inquired, not knowing this was the second time today she was asked this. To his surprise, Hinata giggled a little. Shino blinked. He didn't see the humor of his question, but it certainly was a precious little laugh.

"Of c-course I do Shino-kun." Hinata said happily, feeling her face growing warm with pride. "I…I can't wait. I wasn't too sure at first but…but Kiba…" she trailed off, gluing her eyes to the ground. She had begun to blush a deep crimson red. Shino noted that Hinata had dropped the "kun" suffix she used to use. How odd.

"…You had a talk with Kiba, and he encouraged you?" Shino guessed, feeling as he already knew the answer. Pity, sounded like Kiba had beaten him to the pep talk. Hinata smiled again and shook her head.

"N-No. Well, yes. But he did m-much more than that too…" Hinata replied, unable to hold back another silly grin. Before Shino could inquire what he had said, they had arrived at Hinata's house. Hinata bowed, and graciously thanked Shino again for what he had done that day. After softly shutting the door, Shino turned around and began to saunter off.

"Kiba…what on earth did you say to her…?" Shino asked no one, slightly bewildered with the whole situation. He was almost completely convinced Hinata wasn't going to compete, so what could Kiba have possibly said to change her mind so quickly…?

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Shift a little more to the left. No, that didn't help. Maybe if she rolled onto her other side. No, that didn't help either. Grunting in discomfort, she tried to fluff her pillows in a vain attempt to make them softer. Hinata's small tabby cat, Chiko, mewled with annoyance. Hinata scratched Chiko's ears in a sort of apology, and let her head flop back into the pillows. The fluffing really didn't help. She still felt restless. The urge to roll over and switch sleeping positions ever 15 seconds was strong.

"I can't sleep…." Hinata realized, staring up at the ceiling. She was still too wide awake from the events of the day that had just passed. It was like riding an emotional rollercoaster, one that had gone entirely too fast. Himeko's words still rang in her head.

"_I don't care if you love him! We love him more! And he would never fall for an ugly brat like you!" _Himeko's words echoed in her head. That reminded Hinata of how badly Shino scared them, and she laughed a little. She paused, and then the meaning behind Himeko's statement finally sank in.

"W-wha…? M-Me…? Love Kiba?" Hinata asked herself more than Chiko. Chiko had jumped off the bed in favor of sleeping on the floor. "T-That can't be true…I…I love Naruto kun…" Hinata whispered to the dark. A short, bitter silence followed. It took her a moment to realize the emptiness those words held. They lacked emotion. They lacked strength. _"I mean….I do.…D-Don't I?" _Hinata thought to herself, confused by her own emotions.She sighed, and closed her eyes. Of course she did. Who else could she ever love? Upon closing her eyes, she was immediately greeted with the image of Kiba's brown, wolfish eyes. Those deep, beautiful eyes that gave her so much strength that day. She recalled how deeply and intensely he had gazed at her. Was he _that_ devoted to convincing her to believe in herself…? Those eyes…they seemed mysterious somehow. As if they were hiding a secret, a tiny little secret that they would not reveal to her. Hinata's heart gave a sharp jolt. She abruptly sat up. If Chiko was sitting on the bed, she would have met the same fate Kiba's alarm clock had met that morning. Startled, Hinata raised a hand to her heart. It was thudding fast. It took a moment for it to calm down. It was just for a moment. A brief and fleeting instant, but she felt it. It was so strong. A precious and familiar feeling. But it wasn't for Naruto. And that confused Hinata. Maybe even scared her a little. However, her heart had calmed down and resumed its normal pulse. Sighing again, she snuggled back into her pillows and buried her face. She didn't want to think about it right now. She had other things to worry about right now, like chuunin exams. Kiba had told her she could do it, and she believed those words with all her heart.

_"I know I can do it Kiba…Thank you…." _Was the last thought that drifted across Hinata's mind before going into a deep slumber.

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A/N: A long author's note for a long chapter. Oh. My. Goodness. This _shouldn't _have taken so long to update! One day I was typing, and then I got up and left the computer. The computer automatically logged me off, then my brother logged on. Then when he was done, he turned _off_ the damn computer, and a few pages of this chapter were lost! And after that I was so mad I had NO motivation whatsoever to re-type it…But since that wouldn't be fair to you guys, I forced myself too. Now, I _understand _it's partially _my _fault for getting up and leaving the computer without saving, but it's partially _his_ fault too. (Groans) when you turn off the computer, you get a spiffy little message that says, "Other people are logged on! If you turn off the computer, they'll lose that data! Continue anyway?" and he claims he didn't SEE it. How can you NOT see that message! It pops up right before the computer turns off. He's _lying_ to me. He lies to me a lot. -- So I was really angry at him, and really _really_ mad at myself too. I tried to make this chapter a little longer than usual to make up for the wait…

Is the insomnia scene familiar? (Grins) Mhmmhmm. Kiba and Hinata's relationship really is moving far too slow for my liking. But I want it to be realistic. And In order for that to happen, Hinata needs to realize that Naruto has no room in his heart, (or brain) for her. Not on a romantic level anyway. That's naturally going to take awhile. She's going to start figuring things out soon though. For this I am pleased. :3 Oh, and by the way? I know Neji isn't Hinata's real big brother. But she calls him Nii san anyway, so it confused Kiba. And for you people watching the anime on cartoon network, Shino DOES have a rich, deep sexy voice! That horrible, nerdy voice acting the Americans did made me so mad. Listen to the Japanese anime sometime, okay CN fans? It would make me oh so _very_ happy if you could hear how he really talks. Cheers!

My favorite part to type was Shino's revenge for Hinata on those damn fangirls. (Grins evilly) Originally, I wanted this chapter to be a little different from this one, and have _Kiba _save her from the fangirls. But I love Shino far too much, and I do not not NOT want him to just fade into the back round of this story. So I let him do it. And it turned out lovely I think. (Squeaks) Well, I better stop babbling and start typing up chapter V. Thanks again for taking the time to read my story. :3 And extra special thank you to my reviewers. This was for you, as it always is.


	6. Chapter 5

**My guardian wolf, Chpt V**

_To my reviewers:_

Riaeth: Yes. Shino definitely showed those annoying fangirls who the boss is. :3 I will keep up the good work! Arigatou!

Crain: I feel bad for Shino too...quiet guys need love too! I'm _kinda_ thinking of doing a Shino/Hinata one shot once this story is over. Time will tell

Neji's Fangirl: I agree, its never gonna happen...but that why there's fanfic! thanks for the review! .

Lady Mononoke 756: Hey there! Thanks for sticking with me this whole time! I very happy you think it's cool to read!

Lavender Streak: I glad you love it so far! And i appreciate your review!

DbKit: Ah ha, your right. The encouragement WILL have to blend with the warning. It's a good thing you pointed that out, otherwise i would zipped through it without a second thought. Your best guess is a good guess. Thank you very much. And I thought about what you said, and you're probably right. The voice Shino has now won't suit him until later...eeeh...I guess i didn't think about that either. And yes, Kurenai is very mean. (snickers) Thank you as always for your long, helpful reviews. I really do appreciate them a lot. .

Generator X: I agree:3 NaruHina is a wonderful pairing! But I personally don't think it's going to happen, and i wanted to do a realistic fic. thank you for the review.

CrimsonMint: I shall most certainly keep updating! Thank you for your support. And as for the chuunin fight with neji, you shall see eventually. (smiles)

**Disclaimer:** I have a dream! And that dream is to own the anime series Naruto! And in that series, Hinata would be paired up with Kiba, Shino would get noticed more, and we'd get to see what was under Kakashi's mask! But that dream will never be realized, for Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. And not me. I only own this story! Steal it, (though I don't know why you'd want to) and I'm going to force feed you the curry of life! (insert crazed laughter here) and for those of you who don't know what that is, you'll find out later!

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Kurenai sighed happily, and rolled over in her warm, comfortable bed. She had woken up on her own, without an alarm clock, at around 7:30 that morning. She felt peaceful, alert, and completely refreshed. There was no sunlight yet. But by the looks of it, it was going to be a clear, warm day. And what was the best part of it all? No missions and no training. Yes, that's right. Today she was going to watch her group of young genins take the chuunin exams. And while they were doing parts of the exam she couldn't watch, she would be relaxing. Yes, peacefully relaxing at home. Maybe catching up on some much needed reading time. Or perhaps she'd spend some time with her friend Asuma. That sounded nice about now. Asuma had been rather friendly with her lately. He had even offered to take her out on a picnic sometime during the chuunin exams. The idea made her heart flutter a little. When was the last time she had anytime for male company? Ah, but that would come later. Because now she had to get up and prepare for a lazy day. Yawning and stretching, she got herself out of bed and slipped on a bathrobe. After a nice hot shower, she took the time to make herself a _good_ breakfast for a change. No frantically trying to cram half buttered toast into her mouth while getting dressed today! She didn't even bother to do the dishes. There's always time later you know. She would have liked to get in a little more relaxing time, but alas. It was already time to leave.

She decided to take the walk slow. Why rush? It was going to be such a _nice_ day. All she had to do was supervise her genins on certain parts of the exams...that is, if they even decided to take the exams. She didn't mention to them that you have to compete in groups of three; just like all the other jounin had. This was so there was no pressure for reluctant genin to participate. Hey...wait a minute. What if Hinata really decided to not take the exams after all? Then her day of peace and relaxation would come to an untimely end! After breaking the news to a disappointed Shino and Kiba, they would go out and find Hinata. Then once they told her the news, Hinata would feel horrible and guilty. Then there would be a _terribly_ awkward and miserable training session. Not to mention her team would be down in the dumps for a few days. These thoughts made Kurenai quicken her pace. What if things really did turn out to be a disaster! No! That couldn't be! Not after how much she had been looking forward to all this!

A ruined day of relaxation wasn't the only thing bothering her of course. She didn't want her team feeling miserable. Not that quickening her pace was going to change any of this, but she had to do _something. _Kurenai began to feel anxious. Her feet were begging her to run the rest of the way. No way was that happening though, she'd feel silly. How strange would it look to see the great Kurenai sensei running through the town for no apparent reason?

"Apparently very ridiculous." Kurenai grumbled to herself, dodging around people and animals. She almost crashed straight into a guy carrying a cart of fruit. He gave her a dirty look as she continued to speed away to the chuunin selection exam building. Almost there. Any normal person would have been completely out of breath by now. She awkwardly jumped to the left to avoid trampling a cat beneath her feet. The building was in sight now. She slowed her pace to a regular, casual walk. Trying to regain her composure, she took in a few deep breaths. In, out. In, out. But when she had finally reached the doorway, she almost began panicking again.

"H...Hinata...?" Kurenai asked tentatively, watching the small girl. Hinata smiled in response, and bowed graciously.

"Ohaiyo gozaimasu (1) Kurenai sensei!" Hinata chirped with an unusually bright aura. Kurenai blinked. What had gotten into Hinata today? She looked...different somehow. She wasn't stuttering, wasn't fidgeting, and the strangest part was she seemed _eager_. But Kurenai had no time to ponder this.

"Hinata, where...is Shino and Kiba?" Kurenai questioned uncertainly. Had they decided to back out after all? WHY? What, was the world going mad or something! Hinata decided to enter the exams most gracefully. And yet Shino and the arrogant Kiba were nowhere to be found? No, that can't be right. Something's definitely wrong with this picture.

"Ano saa..." Hinata began, unsure of what she was going to say. "I...I really don't know Kurenai sensei. I talked to both Shino kun and Kiba yesterday, and they both seemed e-eager to participate..." Hinata trailed off, looking around. No site of them whatsoever. Kurenai blinked. And since when did Hinata drop the kun suffix with Kiba? Yes, something must have been dreadfully wrong. Maybe Shino and Kiba had been kidnapped by some ninja from an enemy village. Enemies that didn't want them participating in the exams. And this...this Hinata was some kinda bunshin.

_"No, that's ridiculous. Calm down and think Kurenai..." _Kurenai told herself firmly. Hinata didn't seem bothered at all by Kurenai's strange behavior, or the absence of her teammates.

"Ano...Kurenai sensei? I...I think they just might be late..." Hinata offered, not completely convinced that this was the case. While it's true Kiba could be late on a rare occasion, Shino was never, never, late. Kurenai sighed and ran a hand through her messed up hair. Having them both be late on the same day would be like...a bad omen or something.

"Well...I don't know Hinata." Kurenai confessed, throwing her hands up in the air. "They could be late. You're right. I suppose we'll give them another 15 minutes or so. But if they're any later than that...then I will just be forced to assume they don't want to participate." Hinata's eyes grew large. She opened her mouth to protest, but Kurenai cut her off. "Part of being a responsible shinobi is _being on time_. If they don't have the responsibility to even show up, they shouldn't be allowed to participate. Those are the rules." Kurenai shrugged, giving Hinata a sympathetic glance. "I'd be disappointed of course, I want all of you to try...but I guess for now all we can do is wait and see."

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Well, perhaps Kurenai is right. Perhaps those two not showing up on time _is_ a sign that they didn't want to participate. Or maybe they were late for a very good reason. Shino had woken up at 4:00 that morning, and was unable to fall back asleep. Trying to get his mind calmed and focused, he decided to practice some last minute jutsus in his backyard. In his exhaustion, he fell asleep on a log about 30 minutes later. A bit irresponsible perhaps, but not really his fault. Kiba on the other hand, had woken up at around 5:00. Too much time on his hands, he decided to talk a walk and clear his mind before going to the chuunin exams. He wanted to focus on one thing and one thing only: completely dominating this exam. He went out walking much longer than expected, and came home far too late. Upon noticing the time, he frantically gathered up his things and ran out the door.

While both Shino and Kiba were in a hurry to get to the chuunin exams, they had bumped into each other. Quite literally. Kiba apologized profusely, claiming he hadn't been watching where he was going. Shino merely nodded and took no offense to the situation. Since they had already met up with each other, they decided to go to the chuunin exams together. Kiba insisted on running the rest of the way. However, Shino pointed out that would only get them there a few minutes early. Not to mention waste some energy. It was best to just walk. Kiba had grudgingly agreed to this. So the two boys shuffled to the exams at a very casual pace. Of course, they were silent for a few minutes. But it was a different kind of silence. For some reason, Shino seemed miffed. Or perhaps concerned. It's very hard to read his emotions.

Kiba pondered this for a moment. Maybe he really _was_ mad about being bumped into. But Shino isn't usually the one to be upset about these things, is he? It was probably something else. Not that Shino's personal life was any of Kiba's business. Still, he couldn't ignore his curiosity. Kiba was about to open his mouth and ask Shino what was bothering him. But Shino spoke up before Kiba had the chance to get even one word out.

"Kiba..." Shino began in his voice of usual calm. "Are you aware that you have some very...disagreeable fans?" he questioned, scanning over his friends face for a reaction. Kiba shrugged.

"Yeah. I know. Just a little while back, this irritating group of girls tried to take Hinata home so I could eat lunch with them..." Kiba said with disgust, remembering the incident.

"You obviously refused this offer I assume?" Shino asked.

"Of course!" Kiba replied, becoming more and more irritated with the thoughts of his annoying fans. "Why would I want to eat lunch with that selfish blonde brat anyway?" Shino almost stopped walking. So Kiba _did_ know about Himeko and her little gang. So why wasn't he keeping a closer eye on them? That was...irrational of Kiba to say the least.

"And are you aware..." Shino continued slowly. "That this...selfish blonde brat and her gang of girls _bothered _Hinata yesterday?" Kiba stopped abruptly in his tracks and whirled around to face Shino. He was tempted to grab Shino by the shoulders and shake him; demanding answers. Maybe he would have done this with any other person, but not with Shino.

"WHAT!" Kiba yelped, a vein throbbing in his forehead. He could feel his anger swelling up. "What do you mean, they_ bothered Hinata?" _Kiba demanded, giving his friend a suspicious glare. Shino remained calm and expressionless.

"Exactly the way it sounds. They bothered her." Shino replied simply. "Or should I say, harassed her." Kiba growled and gritted his teeth. He did not like what he was hearing. "They basically ganged up on her and yelled at her. For hanging out with you. And they told her that she can never speak to you again." Shino said flatly, shaking his head in disgust."Not only that, but they even tried to slap her." he added. Upon hearing this, Kiba growled loudly and cracked his knuckles.

"Those dirty little brats! I swear, the next time I see them I'll make them regret they ever even looked at her!" Kiba snarled, feeling the strong urge to hunt them down. Akamaru barked fiercely in obvious agreement. Oh yes. Kiba would find them. And he would make them_ pay_. No one, especially not annoying prissy fangirls, mess with his friends. If Shino hadn't kept talking, Kiba would have been off in an instant; chuunin exams, or no chuunin exams.

"Don't be rash Kiba." Shino drawled, sounding somewhat bored. "I stepped in and took care of it already. And even if I didn't, Hinata already looked ready to fight. She was in a back stance with her hands raised." he said, sighing a little bit. "And if it makes you feel any better, she did stand up for herself. A little anyway. She told them she refused to stop being with you." Kiba heard this, and calmed down...just a little bit. Normally, Hinata would have broke down completely under any verbal assault; not even uttering a word. So he really did mean something to her. Even just a little. It was a nice thought. Kiba growled again and bit his bottom lip, trying to get his emotions in check. It helped. He calmed down some more. He then licked the blood off his lip. How attractive would it look to walk around with blood running down your chin?

"I still don't believe this..." Kiba growled, cracking his knuckles again. "I mean, I knew they had some jealously, but I didn't know they would actually try to _hurt_ her. Dammit, that pisses me off!" Shino sighed, and shook his head again.

"You mean you knew they had a grudge, and yet you didn't do anything about it?" Shino asked in a voice of deadly calm. Kiba's eye twitched.

"Of course I did! Well...I tried..." Kiba argued. Shino's expression didn't change. "Well I did the best that I could! How was I supposed to know they'd pounce on her on her way home! I was sleeping! She had just left my house!" Kiba defended himself.

"Maybe they wouldn't have bothered her at all if you had previously made your point to them...ah...more clear."

Kiba growled again.

"Are you trying to tell me this whole mess is _my_ fault...?" Kiba demanded, sounding borderline on dangerous. Shino shrugged in response.

"No, I'm merely suggesting you contributed." Shino replied. Kiba gnashed his teeth together. Wasn't Shino being just a little unfair? He already told those fangirls off once! Sure, maybe he could have been a bit more aggressive, but Hinata wouldn't have liked that!

"And I suppose you're just _perfect _about keeping your creepy fangirls in check." Kiba mumbled, glaring at his friend. Shino and Kiba rarely got into an argument. But when they did, it usually wasn't pretty. They usually fought, and then stayed angry and sullen for a few days before apologizing to each other. At least they were rational enough to never throw a punch.

"I do, as a matter of fact." Shino said coolly. Kiba snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Oh _sure_ you do." came Kiba's weak response.

"I always send mushi bunshin (2) to lead them away from Hinata. And you too for that matter." Kiba blinked in surprise. He never expected Shino to do something like that for him. An awkward silence fell upon the two boys. Kiba's emotions waged war within him. Surely Shino was being irrational. Or maybe he was right. Maybe he should have kept a closer eye on his little groupies. But then again, how was he supposed to defend Hinata if he was at home sleeping? It's not like he should be keeping a constant eye on her or anything. Sure, she's timid and all...but she has to learn to defend herself eventually. So was Shino really sticking up for his friend, or sheltering her away from the more unpleasant sides of the world?

"Shino...she has to learn to stand on her own two feet sometime."

"..."

"We can't constantly watch over her."

"..."

"But thank you for taking care of her."

And with that, the conversation came to an end.

"Kiba! S-Shino kun! Ohaiyo!" Hinata greeted her two friends warmly. Kiba grinned in response, and Shino remained silent. Kurenai however, did not give them such a warm greeting.

"You two. Are _late_." Kurenai said sternly, emphasizing the word "late". "Do you realize that if you have delayed us five more minutes, none of you would have been allowed to participate in these exams?" Kiba yelped like a wounded puppy.

"W-WHAT! What do you MEAN none of us would have been allowed to participate!" Kiba demanded, waiting for an answer.

"You're all required to participate in teams of three. I didn't tell you this so you guys wouldn't pressure each other into participating if you didn't desire to." Kurenai elaborated, her stern expression softening to a smile. "But you all still did. And that, I must admit, was unexpected. I'm proud of all of you." Hinata smiled happily at the praise. Kiba sheepishly scratched the back of his head. And Shino did nothing out of the ordinary. Cell #8 turned to face each other, and nodded firmly. Taking the honor, Hinata slowly reached up and grabbed the handle of the door. With a dramatic sort of affect, she pulled the door open to reveal an enormous room. It was time for the chuunin exams to begin.

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"Hah! Well would you look at that? This place is crowded!"

"T-they all look so...strong..."

"..."

What Kiba said was definitely an understatement. It was not _crowded_. It was _crammed to the absolute gills and about to burst _from the sheer amount of ninja packed into the room. There was hardly even any room to walk around. Thankfully, no one in cell #8 is claustrophobic. They all froze for a moment; unsure on what to do or where to go. Becoming one with the wall and vanishing sounded appealing to escape some of the death glares they were receiving. Some ninja had headbands with 4 horizontal lines etched in them. Strange. Kiba hadn't seen them before. But they seemed especially vicious; glaring at them with murderous eyes. Kiba scoffed at them. They weren't so tough. He was going to blow them all out of the water. Looking around, Kiba noticed the other first year genin had grouped together somewhere off to the right.

"Strength in numbers, right guys?" Kiba asked with a shrug. Hinata and Shino nodded in agreement, and went off to join the group without another word. It looked like the other two rookie cells hadn't been talking very long. And there was already trouble brewing. That annoying Ino chick was clinging onto a very annoyed looking Uchiha. Sakura was glaring dangerously at the blonde, looking ready to explode any minute. Naruto seemed to be a bit miffed himself, and in a small argument with Nara Shikamaru. And Chouji just sat there looking bored, munching on a bag of his favorite potato chips. Can't blame him for not being excited.

"Well well. Looks like you've all decided to participate in the exams!" Kiba said somewhat arrogantly, with a small sneer playing upon his face.

"A-ano...h-hello..." Hinata stuttered in a meek voice. If anyone had heard her quiet greeting, no one responded.

"Of course we did. Even if it's a huge pain in the butt." Shikamaru scowled in response. He was never really fond of Kiba and his arrogant attitude. Kiba smirked again.

"Quite frankly, I'm surprised all three of this years rookie trios decided to join in. I wonder how far we'll all get." Kiba said, folding his arms across his chest. Akamaru barked in agreement. "What do _you_ think...Sasuke?" Kiba asked with a smirk. The raven haired boy was silent for a moment.

"Trying to psyche us out by acting cool isn't going to get you any farther in the exams." Sasuke responded with a sneer of his own.

"Ha! Not like we need to!" Kiba shot back, putting a hand on his hip. "You may think your pretty tough, but we haven't been sitting around you know. We've trained so much, there's no way you're gonna beat us!" Kiba jeered, enjoying the argument he was having. Hinata and Shino remained silent. Personally, Shino couldn't understand why Kiba always had to act so tough and arrogant around other teams. Maybe that was just his was of boosting his confidence. Hinata had no idea what to say at all. She was hoping to maybe talk to Sakura a bit. They had been acquaintances back in the academy, and she was hoping to maybe kindle some kind of friendship with her. Its kinda tough for a shy girl to having nothing but guy friends. But at this rate, she really wasn't going to get the chance...

"Gah! Will you just _shut up _Kiba! You guys aren't even going to defeat me, let alone Sasuke!" Naruto said loudly, pointing a dramatic and accusing finger at Kiba. Hinata felt herself become uncomfortable on Kiba's behalf.

"A…ano...K-Kiba didn't mean the way that sounded N-Naruto kun...gomen ne..." Hinata mumbled, doing her classic forefinger fidget. Naruto merely looked at her for a moment. She was so quiet. He didn't even realize she had been standing there the whole time.

"What...? Yes I did Hinata..." Kiba said with a confused look, cocking his head to the side. What was Hinata talking about...?

"Would you guys do us all a favor and just shut up?" came a cool, yet somewhat annoyed sounding voice. The group whirled around to come face to face with...well...truthfully; they had no idea who this guy was. He was definitely older than the rest of them though; and stronger looking too. His hair was a light gray, somewhat like Kakashi's, and pulled back into a messy ponytail. He had a hand on his hip. Dark eyes glared at them through a pair of rounded glasses.

"Do you mean to tell me that it's a bunch of first year rookies over here making all the noise?" the stranger demanded, looking over the group with distaste. "Psh. You're all still so _green_ you could be planted into the ground. You shouldn't even be here. Go home before you get hurt." He scoffed.

"Hmph! You can't just go around and decide things like that about people you don't know! And just who do you think you are you bastard! Ino demanded, glaring angrily at the stranger.

"Name's Kabuto. Why do you care? You should open your eyes and take a look around." He suggested, not appearing insulted at all by Ino's remark.

"Why...?" Sakura questioned, looking genuinely curious. Kabuto merely sighed, and pointed behind them. Kiba whirled around, and noticed all eyes in the room were on_ them_. Sakura swallowed nervously. Every ninja in the room seemed intent on pouncing upon the rookies and beating them senseless. Normally this wouldn't faze Kiba, but _damn_. When there's so many people glaring at you like that, how can you not help but feel a little uncomfortable? Even Shino, who was acting perfectly normal, had a single drop of perspiration running down his face. Hinata under normal circumstances would have shrunk back and hid behind Kiba. Kind of like a small child who hides behind their mothers from things that scared them. But she decided she wasn't going to do that anymore. It would make her look like easy prey.

"Oh. Might wanna watch out for them. They're from amegakure (3), and they have the patience of a grenade." Kabuto smirked, adjusting his glasses a bit. "Incase you didn't notice, everyone's under some stress right now. Thought it might be nice of me if I warned you to shut up. You know, before they go berserk and attack you to relieve some of that stress." he said casually, as if talking about the weather. Cell #s 7, 8, and 10 merely stared at Kabuto with blank expressions. Kabuto sighed.

"But I guess it's bound to happen sooner or later. Rookies always seem to think they know everything. Ah, I can remember what that was like..." he trailed off, appearing to lose interest in the group. Sakura tilted her head to the side.

"Kabuto san...?"

"What?"

"Do you mean this is the second time you've taken the chuunin exams?"

"Second? That's an amusing thought." Kabuto said. "This is my _seventh_. Twice a year for...four years now if I'm not mistaken."

"Oh! Then...you probably have a ton of experience! And...Could tell us what to expect!"

"Yep."

"Ya! All right! You rock Kabuto!" Naruto grinned, folding his arms across his chest with satisfaction.

"Well isn't that just precious." Kabuto smirked, reaching in a beige pouch at his side. "Okay then. I guess at the very least I can help my cute underclassmen a little bit. Want to take a look at some shinobi skill cards?" Kabuto asked, holding up a deck of orange cards as if he was offering them quite a treat.

"Shinobi...skill cards?" Sakura asked blankly. Kabuto sighed, and placed the deck on the ground.

"To keep things simple, it's basically a deck of cards containing information about the skills other ninjas use. Each card is transformed into symbols and put into the cards using chakra." Kabuto elaborated, putting his forefinger on the deck. Hinata blinked and looked over his shoulder curiously. They didn't seem...particularly special to be honest. They were completely blank.

"Uh...Kabuto? They're completely blank." Naruto pointed out the obvious.

"Of _course_ they're blank. What if I lost one? Then anyone could read it." Kabuto said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Naruto still didn't seem to follow. "Look, the only way you can read them is by using my own chakra. Each card has been linked to its possessor. Like this one for instance..." Kabuto trailed off, using his chakra on one of the cards. They were instantly greeted by a new image. It was a picture of the world map, with most of the countries at the bottom. (4) Each country had a little number next to it.

"Oh! I get it!" Sakura exclaimed, looking at the card with fascination. "It shows how many people are competing from the different villages, doesn't it Kabuto-san?" she asked, noting that there were 87 leafs in the competition. Kabuto nodded in response.

"Do you have a card on each individual in the chuunin exams?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes. Yes I do as a matter of fact. Why? Someone you want to know about?" Kabuto questioned. Sasuke nodded. "Well lucky you then. I think I have just about everyone here...including _you_ guys. Why don't you describe the ninjas you're looking for to me? I'll see if I can't fish em out." Kabuto offered, putting the card back into the pile. Not before wiping it blank of course.

"Gaara from Sunagakure, and Rock lee from Konoha." Sasuke replied, looking at Kabuto expectantly.

"Oh, you know their names? Well that's no fun. Too easy." Kabuto said smugly, putting his chakra into the deck and pulling out two cards. Naruto stared at the group blankly. He still had _no_ idea what was going on. Kiba pondered to himself for a moment. Did he have any requests? The only one that came to immediate mind was Hyuuga Neji. But then again, he supposed he could always just ask Hinata later. Maybe he could request to see his own. Then again, he seriously doubted Kabuto would show Kiba his own card.

"Show me." Sasuke demanded, opening his hand to receive the cards.

"The first one there is Rock Lee. About a year older than the rest of you. Looks like he's been on 20 D-ranked missions, and 11 C ranked. His sensei is Maito Gai..." Kiba shuddered. He remembered when Kurenai had offered to let them train with Gai sensei. His training was brutal, and Kiba wanted nothing to do with it. "He has exceptional taijutsu skills, probably the best among the rookies. Other than that, he doesn't seem to have anything particularly special about him. He could have competed last year, but for some reason he didn't. His teammates are Hyuuga Neji and Tenten." Kabuto finished. He knew almost all of his cards by heart. Satisfied, Sasuke handed him the Rock Lee card back.

"And...ah. Gaara. Yes. Well, since he's out in Sunagakure, I don't know as much about him." Kabuto admitted with a shrug. "He's been on eight C rank missions...an unknown amount of D rank...oh. Look at that. A B rank mission! Not many rookies get B-ranked missions." Kabuto exclaimed. "I'm almost impressed. And here's another interesting bit of information...he has come back from every single mission he's ever been on without a scratch." Kabuto finished, taking his card back from Sasuke. The group fell into a brief silence.

"A...Ano...am I the only one feeling a bit...outclassed...?" Hinata asked with a frown and a worried expression. Sakura shook her head.

"No...I am too Hinata. So Kabuto san...what you're saying is...everyone here..." Sakura trailed off.

"Is all like Lee and Gaara. Exactly. Elite, powerful, and hand picked. The best of the rookies. They have to be if they hope to survive the test! It's brutal! It's not too late to go home..." Kabuto offered, though none of them seemed keen on backing down. Not even the shy looking little girl. Naruto however, began to quiver a little bit. Hinata was probably the first to notice, though Sakura got to him first.

"Naruto, it's okay. We got nothing to worry about! These guys got nothing on us!" Sakura tried to encourage Naruto, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"MY NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO!" Naruto declared loudly, pointing a finger at everyone in the crowd. "AND NONE OF YOU ARE GONNA COME CLOSE TO BEATING ME!" he yelled to the audience. Heads immediately whipped around to face the young blonde. That's it. Some of them had finally snapped. Though Naruto paid no attention. He merely stretched his hands over his head and smiled. "That. Felt GREAT!" he declared, grinning broadly.

"W-What's your friend's problem!" Ino asked Sakura, pointing an accusing finger at Naruto. Sakura said nothing. She was too baffled by Naruto's stupidity to say anything.

"Oh come on." Sasuke sneered, rolling his eyes in disgust. Kabuto said nothing. He only watched Naruto for a moment with wise, calculating eyes. Kiba on the other hand, doubled over in laughter.

"And none of you are gonna come close to defeating me! For crying out loud! What a show off!" Kiba chortled, gasping for breath between his laughs.

"...I can't believe him. Naruto's the only person I know that can turn a room of strangers into a room full of enemies with just one, stupid sentence." Shikamaru groaned.

"What are you babbling about Naruto!" Sakura screamed, finally regaining her composure. She grabbed Naruto from behind around his neck. She seemed intent on choking him.

"WHAT! I'm telling the TRUTH!" Naruto insisted, squirming to get away from Sakura. Sakura sighed, and looked up to see that everyone was staring her and Naruto. She swallowed nervously.

"Uh...Don't mind Naruto! He...He doesn't know what he's talking about!" Sakura laughed nervously, clamping a hand over Naruto's mouth before he could protest. She released him after a moment and turned around to face him. "What were you thinking!" she hissed at him, jabbing her finger into his chest. "Now everybody hates you! How could you do that! You've made us all look bad!" Sakura's speech continued on like this for quite a few awhile. No one was paying attention to Naruto anymore. Rather, three pairs of eyes leered at Kabuto through the crowd. Instantly, with great speed, they pounced at him. A sound ninja with black, spiky hair leaped into the air and threw a couple of kunai at him. Kabuto was no rookie though. He easily dodged them. The kunai landed harmlessly into the floor. Before he could do anything else, another sound ninja came directly into his face. This sound nin had bandages covering most of his face. He was pretty creepy looking too. He cocked back his fist, ready to throw a punch.

_"They're from the sound..." _Kabuto mused, quickly jumping backwards. They had moved so fast, not everyone could follow their actions.

_"Wow. That was fast. I couldn't even see him dodge." _Shino thought quietly to himself. Or maybe this wasn't the case. A few seconds later, the lenses in Kabuto's glasses cracked and fell to the floor. Kabuto was unfazed. He merely removed what was left of his glasses with a smirk.

_"I understand now. This kind of attack is...hmm..." _Kabuto thought to himself. Before he could finish this thought though, he collapsed to his hands and knees. A sickening feeling had welled up in his stomach.

"What! Ew, he's throwing up!" Naruto exclaimed, wrinkling his nose at the site.

_"What...on earth happened?" _Kiba thought to himself with a frown. _"He dodged the punch! Why did his glasses break? And why is he hurling? Sick!"_

"Kabuto-san, are you okay!" Sakura asked, running over to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. Naruto was right at Sakura's heels. Pausing for a moment to wipe his mouth, Kabuto looked up to see the two young genin.

"Yeah...I'm okay..." he grumbled, shaking his head side to side.

"You don't look fine." Naruto pointed out. True, he hadn't quite recovered from the attack. Though he had already pushed himself up to one knee.

"Wow. How sad. This is your seventh go, and you seem quite weak to me." the sound ninja with spiky black hair sneered. "I'd expect more. Better add this to your cards: All three of us are going to become chuunins this year!" Kabuto didn't seem to be listening. Oh, how naive this black haired boy was...

"...What did that look like to you Lee?" Hyuuga Neji asked his teammate, watching the incident from a far.

"He definitely dodged the attack. That much is obvious." Lee replied, trying to come up with a reason for Kabuto's glasses breaking. "They used some other kind of trick to make him sick. I wonder what it was. I suppose we should be careful around them. " Lee decided with a shrug.

Kiba tilted his head to the side and scratched his nose. He was finding no particular entertainment in the event that had just happened. He wished they could just hurry up and start taking the exams. The waiting really is worse than the actual fighting. It tends to put people on edge. Speaking of starting the exams, there was suddenly a huge explosion in the middle of the room. People cried out in shock and took a step backwards. Smoke billowed through out the room, blinding everyone's vision. Kiba tried to smell how many had just teleported into the room; though it was no good. There were just too many bodies in the room.

"All of you, shut your mouths, _now_!" A loud voice boomed over the confusion. When the smoke finally cleared, about 15 jounins stood in the middle of the room. And _damn_, some of them were _scary_. Especially the one that had just shouted out his order. He had a grim face covered with long, red scars. His eyes were cold. They sent waves of fear up the spines of some of the more timid ninjas. Hinata was one of them, though she tried to not show it.

"I am Morino Ibiki, the proctor and chief examiner. And the chuunin exams are officially about to begin!" Ibiki declared to the crowd. Many people shuddered. Kiba scowled. He didn't look too bad. Before anyone could pipe up with a question, Ibiki pointed a finger at the three sound ninjas.

"You! You three from Otogakure! You can't just do anything you want when the exams are about to start!" He barked at them, a grim frown plastered on his mouth. "Or maybe you'd rather be disqualified?" he asked dangerously, still pointing a large finger at them. "'Cause that's perfectly fine with me." The oto nin with the bandages covering most of his face spoke up first,

"Uh...Sorry sir. This is our first exam and all. We got a bit...excited." He said lamely, not sounding sorry at all. Ibiki wasn't pleased.

"Really now. Then i suppose it's time you all learned the rules around here. From now on, there will be absolutely no fighting without permission!" Ibiki said gruffly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "And even if you do get permission, endangering someone else life is strictly prohibited." he added, his eyes glaring down at the crowd. "And if any of you little brats choose to break that rule, that's IT. You're DONE. No second chances! Do I make myself perfectly clear?" He demanded, daring anyone to talk back. No one did.

"Good. Now if you'll all be so kind as to turn in your written applications, then we'll give you one of these seating cards." Ibiki said, his glare not softening. "Then report directly to your seat. Once everyone's seated, we'll give you the written part of the test." he finished, waiting for them all to do just that. Reluctantly, the crowd moved forward to comply. Naruto however, stayed frozen on the spot. A look of deep terror was set in his azure eyes.

"A...A PAPER TEST! WHY! WHHHY!" He screamed dramatically, dropping to his knees. No one paid any attention however.

**xXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Kiba smirked, and brushed away some eraser shavings from his paper. This was the third time now he had tried to answer question one before he realized what he had to do.

_"I can't believe it took me this long to understand..." _Kiba thought to himself, scratching Akamaru on the head in what he hoped was a casual way. He only hoped Hinata and Shino realized what needed to be done too. Kiba dared to take a peek at the examiners out of the corner of his eyes. None of them had noticed what he had done. While it may have looked casual, it was really a signal for Akamaru to begin gathering information. Shifting a little bit, Akamaru's puppy brown eyes shifted to the ninja in front of Kiba. He seemed like a good target. He was feverishly writing down answers, and definitely older than Kiba. That probably meant he had taken the exams before, and knew what he was doing. Kiba took his finger, and drew an invisible line straight down his paper. It was no careless gesture. He was drawing out the number 1 to indicate to Akamaru he was ready.

"Arf! Arf arf! Arf! Arf!" Akamaru wriggled and told his master. The act was set. Kiba frowned, and pretended to be upset with Akamaru.

"Akamaru, shhhh! People are testing!" Kiba whispered to his dog, tracing out a two with his finger on the paper.

"BARK! Arf arf! ARF!" Akamaru barked loudly, squirming around on Kiba's head, pretending to be anxious.

"Akamaru!" Kiba growled more firmly, putting a hand on his head. "I _said _people are _testing_. Quiet!" he whispered to his dog again, slightly more irritated than before. A proctor glanced up to look at Akamaru. He shook his head, as if disgusted with Kiba's inability to control Akamaru's barking. He didn't scribble anything down. Rather, he focused his attention to another ninja, who was cheating in a rather sloppy way. If he was going to pass a note, the very least he could do is try to be less obvious about it.

_"I think they fell for it..." _Kiba thought to himself, writing down answer number two. Kiba's idea of cheating was a bit simple perhaps, but effective. By sitting on Kiba's head, Akamaru was able to scan the tests around him. He could then bark out loud, and tell Kiba what he had seen. Kiba, in response, would "scold" Akamaru as if he was being a whiny, disobedient dog. It was a perfect act. Kiba decided to wait a few more minutes before signaling to Akamaru to get the next answer. If he did it too much, he was asking for trouble.

_"Sounds like Kiba has begun." _Shino thought silently, still scribbling down answer three. _"But if he does that too much, it's going to become obvious what he's doing." _Shino decided, calling out another bug from under his sleeve. The little bug immediately flew away and started scanning other tests. Once he had gathered the information he needed, he flew over to Kiba and landed in the center of his paper. Kiba paused for a moment to watch the winged insect. He was about to shoo it away, but upon a closer look he realized it was one of Shino's. Kiba grinned with satisfaction. So Shino did know what to do. But how was he supposed to understand this little bug...? As if to answer his question for him, the insect skittered over to question three on Kiba's test. He rubbed his feelers together for a moment before continuing with his task. In quick and deliberate swipes, the bug began to trace out kanji over Kiba's test. Kiba blinked. Wherever the little bug swiped, tiny light blue lines were left in the paper.

_"...The bug can use Shino's chakra to spell out kanji...? Wow. That's...useful and creepy." _Kiba decided as the bug flew off. The bug had answered questions 3, 4, 5, and 6 for him. Kiba quickly realized that the chakra was not going to sit there forever, and decided to trace over the kanji with his pencil before it vanished.

Hinata on the other hand, was doing just fine all on her own. She required none of Shino's bugs, and Shino probably knew it. That's why he didn't send any over. Rather, Hinata had her Byakugan activated and was copying the person directly in front of her. She kept her head bent low, as if thinking, so her hair covered her eyes. If they saw the veins running across her face, it would be a dead giveaway. Of course, the hair covering her eyes didn't obscure her vision. The only thing that was really distracting her at the moment was Naruto. He was sitting next to her without a single question answered. Every now and then, he made an annoyed grunting sound. He obviously had no idea that he was _supposed_ to be cheating. His power really was on the battlefield as opposed to textbooks. His whining was becoming more frequent as time slowly ticked away.

Hinata sighed, and set her pencil down. She had finished her test at last. Naruto's fussing was finally starting to get the better of her anyway. Why didn't he realize he had to cheat! He had to do something or he was going to fail the exams. But it looked like he wasn't going to do anything at all. Hinata sighed. She could always be a nice kunoichi and help him...but that would include talking to him. How embarrassing. Hinata took a deep breath...

"N-Naruto kun...you can look at my answers..." Hinata whispered in a voice hardly more audible than a whisper. She kept her eyes glued forward, and barely moved her lips at all. Naruto blinked in surprise and looked at her through the corner of his eye.

_"Why would Hinata want to help me? She's got nothing to gain from it..." _Naruto mused to himself, unsure of what to make from her offer. Maybe if he was a little brighter, he would have realized she was trying to be kind. But then again, maybe if he was a little brighter, he wouldn't even be in this predicament. _"Oh, I get it! She's trying to trick me!" _Naruto thought, narrowing his eyes at the shy girl a little. Hinata saw his look and immediately became uncomfortable. She turned away, with a single drop of sweat running down her face.

_"Wait a minute. That's a dirty trick. Hinata wouldn't do anything like that..or maybe Shino or Kiba are forcing her to! That's not fair of them! How dare they!"_ Naruto thought with irritation.

"Okay Hinata...But one thing. Why offer help? What's in it for you?" Naruto whispered as quietly as he was able to. Hinata twitched. Naruto didn't trust her. That was kind of a downer on her part. But maybe she should have expected it...

"B-because...I...you...ano..." Hinata stuttered in her little whisper. She certainly couldn't say it was because she liked him, like she _claimed_ to. She had to think of an excuse. "I-It's just...there aren't a lot of newbies...w-we should stick together..." she mumbled lamely. But apparently that was enough for Naruto. He brightened up right away.

"Oh...okay. That makes sense. Thanks Hinata. Sorry for being suspicious." he whispered back, trying to contain his joy with some difficulty. Grinning like an idiot would attract attention to him. Without another word, Hinata slipped a part of her sheet under her arm in what she hoped was an inconspicuous way.

Kiba scowled. Even from a distance, it was obvious to him what she was doing. She was helping Naruto cheat. He forcefully tried to finish writing out the next answer on his test, but pressed too hard and put a hole in the paper. Cursing under his breath, Kiba wrote around the hole and tried to concentrate. Still, it bothered him. If Hinata got caught helping Naruto cheat, wouldn't she lose points? She was putting the well being of the team at stake. For a loudmouthed idiot none the less. Already several teams had been flunked out. One of them had even been stupid enough to stand up and demand the proctor prove that he had been cheating. The proctor of course, was not pleased. He had forced the defiant student against the wall with a single attack and began yelling at him. Kiba inwardly flinched. He would not want to be on the receiving end of that attack. Or the lecture for that matter. Sighing a bit, Kiba drew out the number nine on his paper with his finger. Akamaru let out a series of whines that indicated he was going to bark again. Kiba pretended to become upset again.

"That's it. C'mere boy." He mumbled to his dog, taking him off his head and putting him in his lap. Kiba reached into his pocket and pulled out a white cloth. Gently, he put it around Akamaru's mouth and tied it firmly shut. Akamaru pretended to put up a fit. "Sorry boy, but you gotta keep quiet." he whispered in a voice barely loud enough for a proctor to hear. His plan worked. The proctor didn't notice. Or so Kiba thought. But Akamaru had done his part. He now knew all 9 answers. There was nothing left to do but wait for the 10th question. Kiba scratched Akamaru behind the ears while writing the 9th answer. It was his unspoken way of thanking his dog.

Upon finishing, Kiba flipped his paper over so no one could copy off him. Not that he'd let them anyway, but it paid to be safe. Earlier, a genin sitting right next to Kiba had tried to glance over his paper. Kiba simply glared at them and snarled. Thats all it took. A few ninja's sitting around him looked up at the noise. Upon seeing what Kiba did, they all copied him and flipped their tests over too. They apparently thought Kiba had a good idea. He scoffed. Damned copy cats. Looking up, Kiba noticed that Hinata and Naruto we're now whispering to each other again. He wondered what they were talking about. Hinata was blushing and looking flustered, while Naruto was looking proud and honorable. How strange. Naruto whispered one last thing before completely ignoring Hinata afterwards. She seemed a little disappointed somehow. Well, whatever. As long as she wasn't helping him anymore. She must have not been caught, otherwise they would have been thrown out by now. Kiba sighed in relief. He rested his chin in his hand and closed his eye. There was still a bit of time before the 10th question, and he was already bored. And at this point, sleepy too. He did get up far too early you know.

"Alright! Pencils down! The tenth question is about to begin!" Ibiki boomed to the room of genin. Everyone froze, then put down their pencils.

"Here we go..." Kiba mumbled to himself, bored already.

"And before that, I'd like to mention a new rule." Ibiki continued, his eyes becoming shifty and menacing. Almost everyone in the room visibly stiffened. Kiba yawned. "First of all, you must choose whether or not you accept or reject this tenth question."

_"Ooh, I'm so scared. Someone please end it now." _Kiba thought to himself sarcastically with a snort.

"WHAT! Choose! Why do we have to do that!" A blonde sand ninja with four ponytails exclaimed. "And what happens if we reject it!"

Ibiki's face remained cold and calculating.

"If you don't even try to answer it..." he began slowly, pausing for dramatic affect. "Then you will lose all your points. And fail! Dragging your teammates down with you!" he sneered, perhaps secretly pleased with the reactions he was receiving.

"What did you say! Then why would anyone even consider rejecting it!" a waterfall nin with thick goggles yelped, looking pale and uneasy.

"Because of the other rule." Ibiki said simply, waiting to see if anyone else would as what the other rule was. No one did. He took a deep breath. "If you try to answer it, and you answer it wrong...you will never be allowed to take the chuunin exams again. Not ever." he said coldly, watching the shocked reactions of the crowd. Kiba immediately snapped out of his sleepy stupor. A chill ran down his spine. Akamaru whined, and began to bark loudly.

"That's a LIE!" Kiba spat, pointing at Ibiki with a shaking finger. "There's plenty of chuunin here who are applying for a second, third, or even seventh time!" he shouted angrily, Akamaru woofed with agreement. Rather than snap at him like Kiba expected, Ibiki closed his eyes. A gruff chuckle came from his throat. Softly at first, then gradually getting loudly. Hinata swallowed nervously. She didn't like the sound of this...

"Well that's just too bad for you_. I_ wasn't making the rules last year. I am this year though." He chuckled, becoming more ominous. If that was even possible. Everyone waited in a tense silence for his dark chuckling to subside. "Those who want to reject the question, raise your hands now. Once you're confirmed, you'll leave the exams. And you can safely try again next year." Ibiki continued, regaining his composure.

Kiba gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, painfully hard. Akamaru whined and shifted on Kiba's head. He could clearly sense his master's discomfort. _"I don't want to quit...But what if I can't answer the question?" _Kiba thought to himself, shifting uncomfortably. His overconfident and arrogant attitude had subsided. He was now feeling exposed and opened to danger. What kind of question could it have possibly been...? It couldn't be that bad, could it? If they seriously expected some of them to become chuunin, it couldn't have been impossibly hard. Looking back on his older days, Kiba recalled that he wasn't always the best student. Average grades, average report cards. Nothing to go crazy over. But at least he had been a better student then some people he could think of. Besides, what about Shino and Hinata? Kiba looked up to catch a quick glance at his friends. Shino seemed to be unfazed by anything Ibiki had said. Hinata, as if sensing his gaze, turned around to meet with his eyes. She blinked, then gave a tentative smile and turned around again. She seemed to be...somewhat okay. Kiba sighed.

_"I can't reject it. I refuse to drag them down." _Kiba thought stubbornly, folding his arms across his chest. He scowled at Ibiki, as if to say he wasn't afraid. Thankfully, Ibiki wasn't paying any attention to them.

"I...I CAN'T" someone screamed, standing up and looking shaken. "I...I...I'm r-rejecting the question!" he exclaimed, sweating and shaking from head to foot. Two other ninja's in the room stood up in shock and glared at the one who made the statement. The young ninja refused to meet with their accusing gazes. "Gennai...Inaho...p-please forgive me..." he moaned miserably, hiding his face in his hands.

"Number 50! FAILED!" A proctor sitting by the window shouted. "Numbers 130 and 111! You fail right along with him! Leave!" he snarled, trying to be intimidating like Ibiki. The three ninja's slowly sauntered out of the room, looking crestfallen and miserable.

_"One team down. I wonder who's next." _Shino thought, watching them leave. _"I certainly don't plan on backing out. Not just for me. For them too. Besides, who said it would be any easier next year? I refuse to reject the question." _Shino decided, drumming his pencil against the desk. Despite his cool exterior, he actually had been quite disturbed by what Ibiki had said. He was trying his hardest to not let anyone see it. He didn't want anyone to see the anxiety in his heart. Especially not Kiba and Hinata. He was the strong one. If he showed weakness, his friends would be discouraged. He already saw Hinata out of the corner of his eye, her pale eyes trying to catch his. He didn't acknowledge it. He had to be calm. He _had_ to be.

"I-I want out too!" another ninja announced, a leaf this time. His face was glistening with sweat. He finally cracked under the pressure.

"Me too..." came another meek voice. Probably a female. She sounded despaired. "I'm sorry I let you down..." she cried.

"I quit! I don't want to risk it!" another ninja declared sounded stricken.

"Numbers 121! 134! 104! FAILED! Numbers 127, 123, 103..." the proctors kept knocking people off the list, declaring them all failures. One by one, a long line of ninja scuffled their way out the door. Some were angry, glaring at their cowardly teammates with hatred. Others looked disappointed, but somehow calm. They probably knew that if their teammate hadn't been the one to reject the question, they would have. At least they had someone to blame now. Some of them were even at the brink of tears. The tiny female from early clung to her teammate's arm, profusely apologizing over and over and over. He patted her softly on the head as if to say, "I understand."

"I don't blame them..." Hinata mumbled softly to herself, feeling bad for most of them. _"This is...just plain cruel isn't it? How can they put us against such odds...? I feel so bad...I want to run away with every fiber of my being but...but I won't."_ she thought firmly, trying hard to not fidget. _"I promised them I'd do my best. This...this is for you guys..." _she thought silently, refusing to back down from the challenge. Looking around, she noticed not very many people were left. Hinata tentatively tried to count. It appeared as if at least 78 remained, if not a little more. Sighing, she rested her hands in her lap. There was nothing left to do now but wait for people the reject the question so she could get on with the exams.

And then something that she didn't expect to happen, happened. Naruto, the overconfident loud mouth ninja, slowly raised a shaking hand over his head. Hinata gasped. He eyes widened in shock. She certainly hadn't expected something like this to happen. Naruto, of all people, giving up and running away? It didn't seem possible. Hinata almost wanted to open her mouth and say something. But what could she say? It really was his decision. Naruto took a deep breath, and...

"_NEVER_ UNDERESTIMATE ME!" Naruto yelled loudly, slamming his hand down on the table. Ibiki blinked, somewhat surprised, and looked up to see Naruto. Naruto narrowed his eyes furiously. Ibiki returned the gaze with equal danger and intensity.

"I don't quit! I don't run away! I'll accept your stupid question! I'm _so_ not afraid of you!" Naruto spat, looking heated and irritated. "Why should I be! I'll _still_ become a great Hokage, even if I screw up and stay a genin forever! I don't care! I'll do it through pure _stubbornness_ if I have to!" he yelled, shaking with fear and determination. "And I don't take back my word! Because that is my nindo! Bring it on! I dare you!" Naruto challenged.

Ibiki, though he didn't show it, was quite amazed. In all the years that people applied for the chuunin exams, nothing like this had ever happened. Hinata released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Kiba grinned at Naruto's bravery...or was it stupidity? It didn't matter now. No one was scared. If anything, they seemed ready. All eyes we're on Ibiki. Fear had been replaced with determination.

"I'll ask you one more time. This decision could affect the rest of you life." Ibiki growled. "Quit now while you still have a chance."

"Never." Naruto hissed back, a determined sneer playing upon his face. Ibiki gave another low, sadistic chuckle.

_"Interesting kid. Seventy eight of them are still here..." _Ibiki thought looking around the room for any signs of weakness. _"And it looks like none of them are going to back out. Pity. Oh well. No point in holding out anymore. Thanks to that boy, none of them will quit."_ Ibiki looked up at the proctors sitting on the other side of the room. They smiled ever so slightly, and gave him an affirmative nod. Ibiki turned back to face the crowd.

"Then all of you..."

Kiba bit his lip and braced himself.

"That are foolish enough..."

Hinata shifted uneasily.

"To actually stay here..."

Shino blinked, unwilling to show any emotion.

"..."

An uneasy silence fell over the room of genin.

"You have just passed the first exam!" Ibiki boomed, a huge smile creeping across his face.

The silence immediately ended.

"WHAAAT!" everyone in the room screamed out in unison. Everyone looked around to exchange confused expressions with each other. No one seemed willing to believe what Ibiki had just said. Maybe it was a trick. He _was_ smiling after all, a sure sign that something was wrong. Ibiki does _not _smile.

"W-what do MEAN we passed! What about the tenth question!" Sakura's shrill voice asked, her eyes wide with confusion

"There was no 10th question...beyond the whole "accept or reject" thing." Ibiki grinned at Sakura. Sakura only became more confused.

"Then why did we have to do the other 9 questions!" the blonde sand ninja demanded. "Why did you just waste our time like that!" Ibiki merely smiled again, opening his mouth to elaborate.

"We weren't wasting your time, I assure you that much. We were testing your abilities to spy and gather information." Ibiki said in a voice much warmer than before.

"Our abilities...at spying?" she questioned, looking completely blank. This was all too weird. Ibiki seemed like a completely different person now.

"If you recall the rules in the beginning, you pass or fail along with your teammates. Knowing that, you were all pressured with the fear of dragging down your teammates." Ibiki began, his warm grin fading a little bit. "But the questions...they were obviously far too difficult for any of you genin ninjas to answer.

_"Psh. No way! Not me!" _Inner Sakura cackled gleefully, punching at the air.

"So most of you, realizing this, should have realized the only way to succeed would be by cheating." Ibiki continued. "In other words, we set it up based off the assumption that you would cheat. And to make sure you had good targets, we snuck in two chuunin who already knew all the answers." he said simply, making a gesture at them. They smiled cheerfully and waved. Naruto felt like bashing his head into the table. He could have cheated all this time. He would have just had to have been careful.

"Ha ha! Yeah! It was completely obvious!" Naruto declared, trying to hide his confusion. "Even a dunce like me could tell! Right Hinata?

Naruto asked, trying to get some support. Sakura and Sasuke scoffed.

_"That idiot had no idea..." _Sasuke thought with a smirk.

"Of course, if you cheated in a clumsy way...or an obvious way... you failed." Ibiki said, his voice becoming solemn. Slowly, he reached up to untie his hitai-ate. All the genin watched him anxiously.

When he removed it, people visibly stiffened, gasped, or became shocked. He was completely bald. But this is not what repulsed them. Large, ugly scars marred the skin on his head. Old burn marks stretched across a decent portion of the skin. Somewhere near the back of the head were old punctures from screws. To top it all of, the wounds healed quite poorly. Hinata felt her stomach rebel and she held back a gag. It was truly a horrifying thing to behold. Of course, this was only a small sample of things they would see in the ninja world.

_"He's been tortured...!" _Hinata thought silently with a horrified look on her face. She tried to mask her expression with one filled with sympathy as opposed to horror. But it wasn't really working.

"Because there are times when being caught in an act of espionage can cost you more...so much more...than your life." Ibiki said gravelly. "You can pay in ways that can be taken away from you, little by little, over and over again. While many things, hang in the balance. The information you obtain can't be trusted if you cannot keep them secret from the enemy" he said, putting his Hitai-ate back on with a smile. His intention was not to scare; only to make a point. "And that is exactly why we forced you to cheat. It was the easiest way to pick out the worst of the slackers." a brief silence followed Ibiki's grave speech.

"And also...It was your first real test. Allow me to explain. " he continued his speech, clearing his throat. "lets assume for a moment that you all indeed, obtain the rank of chuunin. And you get a difficult assignment. You must steal a vital enemy scroll, knowing nothing of the enemy skill, deployment, military preparedness of your foe, _nothing. _" he said flatly, emphasizing the word "nothing". "You many even have to cross into a territory filled with traps and bombs. Now do you choose to accept or reject your mission?" he questioned, giving them a moment to think.

"Accept it of course..." Kiba mumbled under his breath. What's the point of being a chuunin if you weren't going to take a few challenges here and there?

"Do remember...that your life, and the life of your companions could be on the line." Ibiki reminded. "But do you really think that any chuunin can get away with only taking easy and safe jobs? Of course not!" He answered the question for them. "Those who don't know how to gamble with their own fate...those who would rather trade today's security for tomorrows unsure risk...are pathetic weaklings!" Ibiki declared. "In my opinion, they don't deserve to be chuunin! But you all chose to accept. And because of this, you pass." he said as warmly as he could mange, with a smile returning to his face. "And I'll pray for a good fight."

"YES!" Naruto exclaimed happily, standing up and pumping his fist in the air. "You do that! Go pray for us!" Before anyone could agree or say anything else, the sound of shattering glass filled the air. A blur came flying into the room.

"What the heck...?" Kiba shouted out loud, aware that he was probably about to get his answer.

Kunai flew through the air pinning a large black banner in place. Wait...a banner? Why was there a banner? No one dared to ask. Someone slide across the floor. They stopped directly in front of the banner with their hands on their hips. Shino briefly wondered if he should be getting ready to fight. He didn't though, and that point soon became clear.

"None of you have the right to celebrate right now!" the short woman with a spiky ponytail exclaimed. "My name is Mitarashi Anko, second chief examination officer of the chuunin exams! Come on brats! Chop chop! Time's a-wastin'!" she shouted to the crowd, looking fierce and arrogant.

"Oh gods...not her...spare me..." Ibiki mumbled to himself, putting a hand to his temple. It was going to be a long day...

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**A/N:** (clears throat) Now I'm sure you're all wondering why I took so long to update. To make a long story short, my spell checker DIED. One would think that it's quite easy to find a new one...but it's not. It's just...not. I thought a quick little google search would give me a good one for sure, but no way! It took forever to find a good one. Especially when I've got a nineteen page chapter for them to correct. But I have a new one now, so no worries. I shall not be hindered in my updates because of a lack of a spell checker in the future. Thank you for your patience. I hope the wait was worth it. And if it wasn't...erm...sorry? (sweatdrop)

Personally, I had no motivation to write this chapter; except for the beginning. The beginning was _fun! _But this chapter was basically written _for_ me. I tried to spice it up a little bit and add stuff here and there. I even had to pull out some of my old, dusty shounen jumps to help me along a little. I tried really, really hard to not copy the lines exactly, and I left some lines out completely. Or added some of my own. You know what? I already hate the chuunin exams...I worked so hard on this chapter too. So hard in fact that when I went to proof-read it, the text looked blurred...and I had to take a break. Is this what Kiba felt like when he was trying to read his chuunin exam application? But do not fear! For the forest of death shall be so much more interesting! Because other than the little run in with Gaara, we really don't know what happened to Shino's team! Thus, they can do whatever I want! Yosh! And definitely expect some fluff next chapter! (insert nice guy pose here)

...You probably can't tell from this story, my personality, or my writing style...but...Kabuto is my favorite character! Yep! that's right! The traitor is my favorite ninja! Surprise surprise! . While I was writing this chapter, I was like, "SQUEE! I get to give him DIALOUGE! Yay!" And you probably also can't tell from my writing style, but I actually don't hate Ino. Yes, she's annoying...and she bothers me...but I don't hate her. She did ONE thing right after all. She be-friended Sakura, and gave her hope for her future. Someone did that for me once. And because of that, i respect Ino...A little. Of course, they threw that out the window for a boy that doesn't care about them... I hate Sasuke. I could rant about it all day, but I won't. And while I'm babbling about my character likes and dislikes, I might as well mention that I like Naruto a lot too. I know I'm kinda making him look like an idiot...but I really do like him a lot.

Earlier, I was concerned that I was making Shino seem like a bad guy. He didn't right? He's still on good terms with everyone, right! Originally he and Kiba were going to get into a full blown argument, then I decided against it. Why would I want them to be on bad terms right before the chuunin exams? Not a good idea. Mmmhmm. If you decide to drop me a review, which I certainly hope you do, will you _please _give me some feedback on the length of this chapter? Did you like it? Hated it? Too long? Too short? Sometimes when I read stories with longer-than-usual chapters, people comment that it was too long and troublesome to read. (shrugs) So do let me know. Thanks again to all of you for reading this! This, as always, was for all of you reviewers! I'm going to start working on chapter VI now! And it will be much more exciting than this chapter. And we'll get focused back on the true stars of this fanfic: Shino, Kiba, and Hinata! (coughandtehfluffbetweenhinataandkibacough) Thank yews:3

(1)- If you don't remember from chapter one, it's the polite form of, "good morning!"

(2)- Here I almost said "Kage Bunshin." But then I remembered that Shino makes his clones out of bugs. And i know that the Japanese word for bug is mushi...(I take Japanese classes! Fear me!) But I'm still not completely sure if that's what they're called.

(3) The shounen jumps said that village hiding in the rain was Amagakure. But the Japanese word for rain is "ame". I couldn't figure out if Amagakure was a typo, or if theres just something I missed...so I went with instincts and made it Amegakure. Sorry if it's wrong!

(4) Did anyone notice that there were no Kumogakure (hiding in cloud) ninjas participating in these exams? How depressing...


	7. Chapter 6

**My Guardian Wolf, chpt VI**

Disclaimer: Okay, so today me and my friend went out for ice cream, right? Because we haven't done that for a very long time. Normally I get chocolate chip cookie dough, but today I got strawberry. My friend got Kona coffee as usual. And yes, that IS a real flavour. Its quite delicious. She almost called it konoha coffee once. But you see, they screwed up my order and gave me two scoops of banana nut. And I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. And I have NO idea why they gave me that, because the word "banana nut" has nothing to do with the word "strawberry". Then the lady gave me a dirty look when I told her she messed up my order. I only own this lame story. So she gave me what I ordered, but then charged an extra dollar. That upset me very much. Steal my story (though I don't know why you'd want to) and I swear I'll send you that nasty ice cream she tried to give me. Only I'm going to smother it in disgusting things like pickle juice, walrus fat, bacon grease, etc. Cha. If you actually read that disclaimer you'd be able to see that I don't own anything.

**_A/N!:_** Okay, as you can see, the first bit of this story is basically a rehash of what first happened in the forest of death. I understand that not everyone likes to read stuff that already happened. But I did work _really _hard to type it all up, and I did add originality to it. The first bit of the chapter especially. If you want to go ahead and skim to the part where they run away from Gaara, and back to my original plot, I won't blame you...but my rehash isn't _that _bad. I'll leave you to decide. Yes, I'm done talking. Go ahead, read your chapter.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXXxXxX**

Hinata swallowed nervously and fought the urge to fidget. The forest of death looked terrifying, and Anko wasn't making things any easier. Not to mention the fact that there were plenty of ninja standing around radiating bloodlust. She decided to sit far away from the rest of them to collect her thoughts, and to escape the evil aura they were emitting. Sighing a bit, Hinata looked over the consent form she had received for the third time. Her pale eyes scanned over the paper, but she wasn't taking any of it in. It probably contained depressing information anyway; saying things like Konoha can't be held responsible if any of them ended up fatally wounded or dead.

Dead. The word echoed across Hinata's brain over and over again. Wasn't it all just a little bit too cruel? Of course, being a ninja means risking your life in the future. But they were just barely teenagers. Wasn't this just a little too much? Hinata sighed again. It's not like it mattered. This was her decision. And now she had to follow through with her actions. Before she could think any further on such issues, she was shaken out of her stupor by a warm voice and a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Lighten up Hinata. I can practically see you shaking all the way from over there."

Hinata looked up, and was immediately greeted by Kiba's deep eyes and his wolfish grin. Yes, he wore that wolfish grin as if nothing in the world was wrong. As if they weren't going to play a life or death version of capture the scroll. Without waiting for any kind of answer, Kiba sat down beside her and took Akamaru off his head.

"Ah, h-hello Kiba." Hinata mumbled, setting down her consent form. "I...I didn't see you coming..." she muttered for a lack of something better to say. Kiba just shrugged and scratched Akamaru behind the ears. Looking to his side, Hinata noticed that Kiba had already signed his consent form with his sloppy, hardly legible signature. Curiously, Kiba looked to his left to see what she was staring at; then peered over at her consent form.

"Eh? You haven't signed it yet?" Kiba asked, sounding genuinely surprised. "Is something wrong?" Hinata furiously shook her head.

"N...no...I was just thinking. That's all Kiba..." Hinata said quickly, snatching up her consent form. Picking up her pen, she began to scribble her name as tidy as she could with a trembling hand.

"Hinata..." Kiba started, watching her hand shake as she began to spell out her first name. "You're scared." he said casually as if talking about a nearby patch of flowers. Akamaru yipped in agreement. Hinata blushed slightly from embarrassment and shook her head again.

"N-no Kiba. I'm not afraid. Where's Shino kun?" Hinata questioned, trying to change the subject. Kiba quickly recognized her clever little tactic though.

"He's just over there signing his consent form." Kiba stated, not appearing at all interested in Shino at the moment. "Hinata, you're scared." he repeated, refusing to just let the subject die. Hinata finished signing the paper and began fidgeting tentatively.

"A-aren't you...?" she asked in response, still somewhat dodging the subject. Kiba grinned at this and bit back a laugh.

"Nope." He said simply with a dopey smile plastered across his face. Hinata almost dared to crack a smile of her own. Typical Kiba. Arrogant and over confident all around. Almost nothing ever seemed to faze him, a quality Hinata longed to possess. Hinata continued to fidget and watch Kiba anxiously.

"Not...even a little?" she questioned tentatively, furiously fiddling with her hoodie string again.

"No. I don't have any reason to be." he said sounding quite serious. Akamaru barked as if to say, "I'm not scared either!" Hinata stared at him blankly, her eyes wide with disbelief. Did she just hear him correctly?

"N-no reason to be scared...? K-Kiba...a-are you taking this seriously...?"

"Of course I am."

"B-but, you know...we might...die."

Kiba began to laugh again for the second time in five minutes. Hinata sighed, and let her head droop in defeat. Maybe Kiba was just being _reckless_ as opposed to confident...

"The way I see this..." Kiba began, his laughter finally subsiding some. "If they want some of us to actually become chuunin, then they wouldn't put anything in that forest that we couldn't handle. We can't become chuunin if we die." he said, as if it wasn't already obvious. "I think that Anko chick is just trying to scare us. And apparently, it's working." He added, gesturing to a group of nearby waterfall ninjas. They we're huddled up in a group, heads together, and whispering intently. All three of them were pale and shaky. One of them kept furiously shaking his head "no", as if denying his teammates something they wanted. Hinata blinked. Kiba scoffed.

"Honestly, I only think we would die in there if we were complete idiots." Kiba concluded. "And last time I checked, the three of us were geniuses. Right Hinata?" Kiba asked with another wolfish grin, trying to get her to laugh. It worked, sort of. She cracked a little smile. Kiba had a point. While genius might have been an overexaggeration, they weren't exactly near the bottom of their class. They had been clever enough to get past the first exam anyway. Hinata sighed, releasing some of her tension with it.

"...I suppose your right." Hinata said with her tiny shy smile. Akamaru barked happily and scrambled out of Kiba lap. Jumping over to Hinata, he began to eagerly lick her at her face. Hinata giggled a little at this, and began happily stroking Akamaru's white fur.

"Akamaru sure does like you." Kiba observed, watching the pair. Hinata smiled happily again and nodded. She loved Akamaru almost as much as Kiba did. Gently, Hinata picked up Akamaru and cuddled him like a baby. Akamaru didn't much like it, but he decided to tolerate it for the time being. Sighing happily, Hinata buried her face on-top of Akamaru's head and gave him a sweet little kiss. Kiba inwardly chortled. He knew how his little puppy despised being held baby-style, even though he was trying hard to not show it.

"Animal's sure are nice, aren't they...?" Kiba asked absentmindedly, picking at the end of his shoelaces. "I've heard that the moment someone places their hand on an animals fur, their stress level immediately decreases." Hinata's face emerged from the top of Akamaru's head, cheeks tinged pink.

"I agree." Hinata chirped, continuing to snuggle with Akamaru. Her tension had vanished, and she was now paying attention solely to the little puppy laying in her delicate arms.

"So, feeling better then?" Kiba asked, watching Akamaru wriggle out of Hinata's arms and sitting calmly in her lap. Hinata seemed a bit disappointed with the change, but settled for scratching him on the head instead.

"Yes. V-very much so." Hinata replied. Kiba nodded approvingly. The exams would have been a lot more difficult is she was feeling down. Everybody needed to be at the top of their game, and Hinata certainly couldn't be if she was nervous.

"You had nothing to worry about anyway." Kiba added, in an a matter of fact sort of way. Hinata tilted her head to the side curiously. "Cause you know, you're still with me and Shino. And I'll always prot-"

"Did you guys sign your forms yet?"

Hinata and Kiba looked up to see Shino standing there looking cool and aloof, as usual. He had his consent for in his left hand, signed and ready to go. His other hand was in it's usual place, jammed deep into his pocket. Kiba bit back a sigh and nodded his head.

"Ah...y-yes Shino kun." Hinata said, standing up and handing Akamaru back to Kiba. "We're both ready to go." Shino nodded in response.

"Then lets go turn in these forms and get our scroll." he said simply, turning around and walking towards the scroll both. Kiba and Hinata looked at each other, shrugged, and began to trail behind Shino.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Cell #8 stood calmly by gate #22, patiently waiting for the second exam to begin. Hinata reached into her pocket to feel their earth scroll for the 4th time, just to assure herself that it _really _was there. Earlier, Kiba arrogantly stated that _he_ should get to hold the scroll; seeing how he _was _team leader and all. Shino objected; claiming that Hinata should be the one to hold it. Of course, she didn't want to. But then Shino pointed out that she seemed less likely to be the one holding the scroll; seeing as how Kiba _obviously _appeared to be the team leader. It would surprise or confuse enemies. Kiba scowled at this, and demanded to know if Shino was being sarcastic when he said that. Before Shino could come up with any kind of come back, their proctor had ushered them out of the scroll booth and to their respective gate.

Upon feeling the scroll, Hinata removed her hand from her pocket and scratched Akamaru on the head. Kiba had insisted that Hinata hold Akamaru until the exams started, seeing as how he calmed her anxieties. Hinata gladly accepted. Akamaru sighed lazily and relaxed in Hinata's arms. Kiba clenched his fists tightly, eager for the exam finally begin. Waiting is the worst part. Even Shino felt somewhat restless. He kept shifting his weight from right leg to the left leg. Sighing, the proctor stared at his watch looking impatient. Kiba could almost hear the proctor saying to himself, "I've got better things to do..."

"Oi. How much longer are you going to make us wait?" Kiba asked the proctor, folding his arms across his chest impatiently. The proctor scowled at Kiba.

"If you ask me that one more time, then you're not going to take the second exam at all." he snapped, losing any patience he had for Kiba. Which wasn't much to begin with.

"About six minutes and thirty five more seconds Kiba." Shino answered, since the proctor was obviously not going to say. Kiba twitched. He forgot that he could have just asked Shino for the tike. He was wearing a watch afterall...

Silence followed Shino's remark, like it usually does. Kiba grumbled impatiently and resisted the urge the start pacing. Absentmindedly, Shino watched one of his bugs crawl around his hand. The little insect skittered around without much of a purpose. Hinata calmly watched her two teammates with her pale, timid eyes. Growing tired of standing, she sat down on the ground and set Akamaru in her lap.

"I'd get up if I we're you." the proctor warned Hinata a few minutes later. "I'm going to be letting you inside in a minute, and you're going to want to run in there as fast as those tiny legs can carry you. I'd give the boy his mutt back while your at it. He'll be needing him right away, I guarantee it." Hinata blinked, and slowly rose to her feet. She wasn't sure if she should say thank you for the advice, or frown upon the man for calling Akamaru a mutt. Kiba was pretty sure on what to say though.

"HEY. Akamaru is _not_ a mutt! And even if he was, it wouldn't change the fact that he's a _great_ partner!" Kiba defended Akamaru, scowling angrily at the proctor. "Besides, who said that y-"

"A-ano, Kiba, please take Akamaru-chan." Hinata dared to cut Kiba off before he had the chance to say anything stupid. Slightly embarrassed for interrupting, she shyly held up Akamaru to Kiba's face. Kiba stared for a moment, then shrugged and put Akamaru back on his head. Shino shook his head at Kiba.

_"Nice save, Hinata." _Shino silently praised his teammate.

The proctor smirked at the three genin, then removed a thick silver key from his pocket. He shoved it into the lock, (which read "shinobi") and carelessly allowed it to fall to the ground with a dull thunk. The chains soon followed after, crumpling alongside of the lock. Hinata took a deep breath and put a hand over her heart.

"Alright..." the proctor said, staring at his watch intently. "I'm going to open the doors in just a few seconds. Be ready for anything." he warned, not looking up from the watch. Kiba grinned eagerly, ready to run in there and give it his best. Without much more of a warning, the proctor flung the doors open and quickly stepped aside.

"Go!" He bellowed at them, pointing dramatically into the forest. Hinata, Shino, and Kiba all exchanged glances with one another. They smiled at each other, and then nodded their heads. Or in Shino's case, smirked. Without another word, they took their first leap into the forest and out of the proctors site.

For a few seconds, cell #8 raced blindly into the forest without a single clue as to what they were going to do. Trees and other scenery rushed by them. Kiba decided it would be best to find an empty clearing and formulate a plan. Already, a couple of clever schemes were buzzing in his head, and he was eager to put them into action. He was about to stop and suggest this when Shino assumed his role as leader and tore ahead of the group, forcing them to follow.

Scowling slightly from irritation, Hinata and Kiba followed Shino to wherever it was he was leading them. Kiba was careful to not break any branches as he leaped from tree to tree; it would be sure to leave a trail. Hinata vaguely wondered if she should be activating her Byakugan, then decided against it. It was only the first few minutes of the five day exam. Saving chakra was vital. Instead, she tentatively sniffed at the air. People had passed by recently. Kiba noticed this and smirked. He knew those training sessions with Hinata weren't a waste of time.

_"And she said she didn't need to learn to use her nose." _Kiba thought to himself, feeling smug and amused. She probably wasn't as good as Kiba, but he assumed whatever she smelled was probably a start.

_"...I think...three people might have already come this way." _Hinata decided, staring directly at Shino. She didn't want to lose sight of him and get separated._"That...was kind of quick...we can't have been running for more than a few minutes..." _Before Hinata had the chance to ponder this any further, Shino suddenly ceased running and dived into a thick, bushy tree. It would be a good hiding place, as long as they didn't stay too long. Kiba and Hinata soon followed, wondering what Shino had in mind for the two of them.

"Shino, I have an idea." Kiba started to say, but Shino shook his head.

"So do I." He said in an a-matter-of fact sort of way. "Hinata, will you please do me a favor and activate your byakugan?" Hinata thought on this only briefly, then nodded her head and complied.

"What!? Hey wait a minute Shino!" Kiba protested as Hinata focused her chakra to her eyes. "She shouldn't squander all her chakra in the first few minutes, it will-"

"Give us an advantage." Shino finished Kiba's sentence for him. "And I think it would be wise to be quieter Kiba. We don't want to attract attention." Shino added, looking thoughtfully at Hinata. "Hinata, scan the area and tell me what you see." Hinata obliged, gazing around the forest for signs of anything unusual.

"Uh...Shino...? What are you doing...?" Kiba questioned, looking skeptical and curious.

"Formulating a plan."

Kiba sighed in defeat and shook his head. There was no arguing with Shino when he decided to start giving out orders. Besides, he seemed to know what he was doing. The team could always count on Shino in countless ways, and his ability to formulate plans was one of them.

"...Theres a team about seven minutes away. They might be coming this way, but it's difficult to tell..." Hinata reported. Kiba mentally noted that Hinata never seemed to stutter when she had her byakugan activated.

"What can you tell us about the environment? Is there anything we could use to our advantage? Or anything that could endanger us?" Shino questioned, already deciding on a course of action.

"Ano...well...there's a small clearing a little ways east of here. The trees are full of Konoha's flying leeches. But other than that, nothing dangerous, nor useful...not even a stream." Hinata concluded, turning off her Byakugan. Kiba bit his lip at the thought of dealing with a group of flying leeches. If they catch you off your guard, they can be a real problem. Mentally, he thanked Hinata for spotting them before they got to them.

"Alright. then lets use them." Shino decided, sitting down in the tree. "Now you two, I have a plan that I believe will secure us a second scroll in a matter of minutes. But we have to move quickly. So listen closely and do as I say without asking questions. Agreed?" Kiba hesitated only for a moment before nodding. Even if he said no, it probably wouldn't have changed anything. Kiba had long since learned that lesson. Hinata followed suit, patiently listening to Shino speak.

**xXxXxXx**

An agonized scream pierced through the air, adding to the disturbing atmosphere quite nicely. Somewhere safely outside the forest of death, Mitarashi Anko smirked and bit down on another kibidango.

"Wow! That didn't take long at all!!" she cackled sadistically, happily chewing on her food and tasting the red bean paste.

**xXxXxXxX**

"I can't believe that actually worked! How stupid can you get?!" Kiba roared with laughter, watching the net swing back and forth with satisfaction. The net contained three unfortunate leaf ninjas, each covered with Konoha's flying leeches. The leeches eagerly sucked up their blood with loud, disgusting slurping noises.

"...Too easy. It was too easy. It...it doesn't seem right." Shino murmured with disbelief. Not that he expected his plan to fail or anything, but for some reason seeing the three ninjas fall into his trap so easily was...unsettling to say the least. The tallest one in the net grunted in pain. With a shaking hand, he reached into his kunai pouch. Perhaps he was hoping to pull out a kunai and slash the leeches off his body. But he never got the chance. With a groan, his shaking hand fell limp before he could remove it from the pouch. Hinata winced at the site of it.

"K-Kiba...w-we aren't really g-going to just let them die are we...?" Hinata choked, turning away from the site. Kiba's laughter immediately ceased.

"No, of course not. We don't need unnecessary blood shed. " Shino answered the question for him. "We're just going to give the leeches a few minutes to get nice and full. If they don't get enough blood, they would just attack us when we opened the net." he elaborated, patiently waiting for the leeches to do their job. Hinata gulped, the nodded.

"Though at this rate, I don't think they'll have much blood left to suck in a minute." Kiba observed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a couple of shuriken. "Now Shino?" He questioned, waiting for the ok. Shino paused for a moment to consider, then gave an affirmative nod. Immediately, the silver stars left Kiba's skillful hands and cleanly sliced the net open. The trio fell to the ground with an undignified plop. Hinata immediately dashed over to the fallen squad

"Hey, HEY! Be careful!" Kiba warned, watching the leeches warily. They didn't seem particularly interested in Hinata though. They still clung happily to the three leaf ninjas, filling their fat little bellies to their leechy heart's content. Fumbling a bit, Hinata took her kunai and slashed the first leech under the belly. It gave a strange squelch of pain and died a horrible...squelchy death.

"I'm v-very sorry, but we b-both know you would have h-hurt us if we didn't hurt you first." Hinata stuttered, slashing a second leech off the older boy. The freshly sucked blood poured over the ground. The boy gave a grunt as if to let Hinata know he understood, but it still pissed him off. Kiba held back an amused smile before walking over to help his team mates. In his eyes, it was sweet that Hinata thought she had to explain her actions to the enemy. Yes, very sweet indeed, but completely unnecessary.

"Hey, cheer up! If you're lucky, maybe you'll recover in a few days! Course that only leaves you a day or so to get a set of scrolls, but chin up anyway!" Kiba taunted, sarcasm dripping from every word. Quickly, he gave a careless slice at leech, removing some of the ninja's skin with it.

"Ugh!...gee thanks..." he muttered sarcastically before slipping into oblivion. Kiba shrugged.

"Welcome!" Kiba replied, though he knew he couldn't hear him anymore. Nearby, Shino searched the third ninja for the scroll. Nope, not in the shuriken holder...not in the kunai pouch...ah. There it was. Removing his hand from the strangers pocket, he carefully examined the scroll. The heaven kanji symbol almost seemed too good to be true.

"Its a heaven scroll." Shino made known, carefully tucking it away in his pocket. Kiba looked up from his task and scowled.

"Hey, I want to hold on to it!" Kiba complained, standing up and triying unsuccessfully to wipe some blood off his sleeve.

"No." Shino said simply, patting his pocket with pride. "It was my plan, and now I'm going to hold it."

"I had a plan too you know." Kiba began, folding his arms across his chest.

"A-ano! We should p-probably leave!" Hinata broke in, standing next to Kiba and tugging on his sleeve. "W-we shouldn't stay in the same place for too long...e-especially since we just made su-such a mess..." she mentioned, gesturing to the blood splatters on the ground and the three ninja's she had courteously sat up against the tree. Kiba nodded in agreement, and looked at Shino expectantly.

"...Alright. Lets find a new place to hide and decide on a new course of action." Shino agreed, ready to leap into the tree and lead the way. Kiba frowned, and grabbed the back of his collar to stop him in a very out of character manner. Shino visibly twitched from the unusual contact.

"I want to lead." Kiba said stubbornly, Akamaru barking in agreement. Shino felt a twinge, and looked into the bush behind them. The leaves rustled softy in the slight breeze that had picked up.

"Fine. Just do it, and do it quick." He snapped, not bothering to mention what he had just seen. Kiba frowned a little for being snapped at, but shrugged it off and bolted off into the forest. Shino soon followed, with Hinata taking up the back of the group. She paused for a moment to take one last look at the fallen enemies, then hastily looked away.

A pair of cold, icy blue eyes glared at her from the bushes as she left.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Ha haaa! This is great!" Kiba exclaimed happily jumping branch to branch. "I had no idea it would be so easy! We'll be at the tower in no time!" he cheered, Akamaru dashing along side him. Shino bit back the urge to sigh and roll his eyes at his teammate. Aburame's do _not_ roll their eyes. Especially since no one would be able to see it anyway.

"Incase you didn't realize Kiba, the exam has just barely begun. Not everyone's been as lucky as us so far. There are still enemies everywhere." Shino warned, not bothering to hide his irritation for a change. Hinata nodded in agreement at Shino's remark.

"S-Shino kun has a point Kiba. We cant afford to be arrogant..." Hinata mumbled, sounding somewhat apologetic. Kiba's expression was changed with what could almost be called a wolfy pout.

"Aw, come on. Don't ruin my good mood." Kiba grumbled. How could they blame him for being so elated? How many other teams could say they got a full set of scrolls within the first hour or so? Not many could, and Kiba was proud; even if the trap wasn't his idea. Now he was content to be leading his group of friends wherever he pleased, perhaps ready to pick a fight or head straight to the tower. The only thing that could have made this day any better would have been if Kiba felt the weight of both scrolls securely in his own pockets. He sighed, then pondered what he could do since _he _was the team leader at the moment. And that meant _they_ had to listen to _him!_ It didn't take long for a simple and very unoriginal idea to pop into his brain.

"STOP!" Kiba bellowed dramatically, putting his arms out to the side to indicate his desire to stop. Confused, Shino and Hinata obediently stopped and gave Kiba a questioning look.

"Since you both insist there are probably a ton of enemies lurking around, lets find them before they find us!" Kiba declared as if it were the most brilliant scheme in the world. "That responsibility, of course, goes to you Hinata." He added with a smirk. Hinata blinked in slight disbelief, then slowly nodded her head. Shino gave an impatient sigh and put a finger to his temple.

"...Aren't you the one who so adamantly exclaimed she shouldn't squander all her chakra about ten minutes ago...?" Shino questioned, looking at his friend with disbelief. What on earth could he be thinking? Kiba chose to not answer Shino's question.

"Um...theres a fight...just up ahead...but that's all there is..." Hinata sighed, deactivating her byakugan. That's all Kiba wanted to hear.

"Alright then! Let's go check it out!" Kiba exclaimed, excitement gleaming in his wolfy eyes. Shino scoffed, and shook his head with disagreement.

"Kiba, that would do _nothing_ for us..." Shino began, looking tired and irritated. Kiba waved off his comment.

"Yes it would." he argued, getting back on all fours and ready to run towards the fight. "Think about it. If we steal more scrolls than we need, then less teams can pass. Isn't that right? I say go for it." before anyone had the chance to stop him, Kiba immediately bound off towards the direction of the fight. With no choice but to follow, Shino and Hinata were soon leaping after.

Out of all the fights in the forest team #8 could have gotten caught up in, this was probably one of the worst to stumble upon. It was just bad luck, probably to counteract the good luck they had earlier. They had no way of knowing the peril that awaited them because of their curiosity. They had no way of knowing, as they snuggled into that little bush, that they risked their very lives for choosing to witness such a fight. Akamaru knew. But nobody's perfect, and even Kiba can't _always _understand what he was saying. No matter how much little Akamaru trembled, and no matter how loud he dared to let out those sad little whines, no one paid any attention. After curiously peering out of those bushes, the only desire in their hearts was to turn around and put as much distance between them and Sabaku no Gaara as possible.

It was a gruesome and cruel thing to behold. At first it seemed as if those creepy amegakure ninja's had the upper hand. Hinata firmly squeezed her eyes shut when the wave of needles came down upon the small red-haired boy. She opened her eyes expecting to see a battered corpse oozing with blood. Instead, the boy was perfectly fine. Not a single needle had the chance to mar his pale skin. A wall of glittering sand had rose up at the last second, completely covering him from harms way. Kiba, or even Shino for that matter, had no idea such a jutsu existed. The wall of sand slowly fell down, the needles soon following. They hit the ground one by one, completely and utterly useless. Gaara didn't even flinch. If anything, he looked deeply annoyed by the rain ninja's petty attack. A few cruel words were exchanged, and the rain ninja furiously dived at the sand trio.

It was over fairly quickly. A few simple hand signs was all it took. Within seconds, the rain ninja was engulfed in a thick wave of sand. It came from all directions, securely trapping the boy in a strong cocoon. Despite his taunts, it was obvious he wasn't going to be freeing himself anytime soon. Before Kiba had the chance to blink, the sand collapsed in on itself and crushed the rain ninja it held. Waves of fresh blood splattered every which way, raining down on the rain ninja's remaining two companions. Parts of his corpse and his weapon smacked into the ground with a sickening plop. A wave of nausea hit Hinata. She closed her eyes and clamped a hand over her mouth in a furious attempt to keep her lunch down.

The smaller of the remaining two ninjas immediately pulled out their scroll. He placed it on the ground with a shaking hand and rolled it over to Gaara with a flick of the wrist. Perhaps he was hoping that a peace offering would spare him his life. But when ichibi gets to see the site of blood, it usually wants more. Not satisfied. Gaara quickly encased the two ninja's in a coffin of their own. Their pitiful cries for mercy fell upon deaf ears. Shino, Kiba, and Hinata stared dumbly, unable to tear their eyes away from the site though they desperately wished to. On an impulse, Kiba grabbed Hinata and forced her head into his chest.

"Don't look." he whispered to her, squeezing her tightly as if in fear of losing her. Trembling, she held on to him tightly in desperate need of the comfort. Shino finally forced himself to tear his eyes away from the scene and fixed his eyes on the ground. He didn't want to watch anymore than Hinata or Kiba did. The screaming was soon cut off and a new wave of blood splattered through the air. A few stray droplets flew over to the bush, hitting them on their backs. Shino flinched upon feeling it and its warmth. A few moments of silence passed, and none of them dared to move. They sat in a silent shock, trying to register what just happened. Hinata didn't want to leave her comfort zone. Kiba didn't want to move. Shino didn't dare to take a peek at the scene. They all kept their eyes squeezed shut, hoping they would wake up from some kind of horrible nightmare.

"...Is it safe?" Kiba uttered in a tone barely audible to his teammates. Shino opened his eyes, but could not will himself to check. Hinata made no efforts to move at all. As if Gaara had heard them, a small stream of sand began to creep its way over to the bush. Hinata and Kiba yelped in unison, clinging tighter to each other. Shino furiously swiped at the sand, as if to knock it to the ground. Obviously, this had no effect. The sand stream slowly became thicker and steadier, circling around the group of terrified genin. A female voice of protest piped up, but none of them registered what she was saying. This was the end. It had to have been. There was no hope. They stuck their nose where it didn't belong, and now they were going to die for it.

And quite suddenly, it all stopped. The sand retreated back to its proper place in Gaara's gourd. Stunned, Shino's head shot up to see what was going on. Maybe that sand was just a warning attack, and now Gaara was going to come at them for real. Kiba slowly looked up, still clinging possessively to his small teammate. He gritted his teeth, waiting to see what would happen next. The sand trio merely exchanged a few bitter words, and began to walk away. Just like that, they sauntered off as if nothing happened. The only sign they had ever come was the putrid stench of blood in the air. As if someone had flipped on a magic switch, Cell #8 immediately bolted off in the complete opposite direction of the site like frightened rabbits.

"What did I tell you?!" Shino hissed, blindly following his teammates with no idea where they were going. "We should have just gone back to the tower when we had the chance! We could have died!"

"How was I supposed to know that was going to happen?!" Kiba shot back, sweat dripping from his face. "I mean YEAH. This place is dangerous, but that was just _wrong!_ This place is crawling with freaks! Those were no genin!" Kiba exclaimed, stumbling on a branch. He quickly regained his footing, and darted after his friends.

"W-we need to g-get out of h-here! _Now!"_ Hinata whimpered, still shaking from the site they had just witnessed. Kiba and Shino feverishly nodded their heads in agreement. "We a-already have the scrolls we need, so let j-just hurry up and get to the tower!"

Without another word, they began to fly towards the tower in a frenzied panic. The recent bloodshed left them shaken to the core, and they wanted to get out of that forest as quick as humanly possible. Blindly, they raced through the forest, not bothering to cover their tracks. They didn't even bother to check for traps. Their minds we're numb from shock. They weren't even thinking about the most basic skills to survive. Breathlessly, they dashed around for several minutes, and it was a wonder they didn't fall into anyone's trap. Heck, they didn't even see any other teams. Maybe they were hiding somewhere. But Kiba didn't care. None of them cared. They only wished to leave. The raw desire to escape blocked out all other thoughts, all other logic.

"I can see the tower!" Kiba panted, pointing a clawed finger at the distance. His teammates gave another feverish nod to indicate they heard him, as they continued their journey to the tower. It continued on like this for several more minutes. No one spoke to each other, each of them preoccupied in their own thoughts.

Nearby, a bush rustled ever so slightly. A pair of cold, piercing eyes peeked through an opening to check up on their latest victims. Yes, they we're still going strong. Perfect.

"A...ano...Kiba...!" Hinata called out to her teammate breathlessly. "How m-much longer do you think...? I...I've got a bad feeling..." she exclaimed, putting a hand over her chest to calm her breathing. It didn't help of course.

A skillful hand snaked its way out of the little bush, kunai in hand. Patiently, he waited for the right opportunity to release the trap.

"Ah geez, I don't know..." Kiba muttered, growing tired from their frantic race to the tower. "Uh...ten minutes? fifteen? What do you think Shino?" Kiba shouted his inquiry to his teammate.

_"I don't think you're ever going to find out..." _a stranger cackled silently to himself, thoroughly enjoying the task at hand. How could they possibly get any luckier? The poor little genins were too spooked to pay any attention to their surroundings at all!

"...You're probably right." Shino called back, after he gave it some considerate thought. It seemed logical anyway...he didn't really want to bother to form actual thoughts at the moment.

The hand sticking out of the bush twitched eagerly. Jeez, these little brats sure were slow. Could they possibly go any slower?

"D-do you think we have time to take a b-break...?" Hinata said between her gasps for breath. "We've been running like this f-for a long time, I'm sure w-we're..._cough..._out of danger by now!"

"No no, don't take a break..." the stranger murmured to himself ever so quietly.

"No way Hinata, sorry! We're almost there, just hold on a little longer!" Kiba called back, though he looked like he regretted those words. His chest was on fire. His lungs felt ready to burst.

Bingo.

In a quick motion, the stranger brought his kunai down on the thin line of wire that cell #8 had so carelessly dashed right past earlier. With a loud crunching sound, a thick heavy log came swinging from its hiding place. Quickly gaining momentum, it began falling towards the small group of frazzled genin. Hinata was the first to notice it. Startled, she squeaked with surprise and darted off to the side. Kiba and Shino watched her go, but made no efforts to follow her at all.

"LOG!" she shouted as loud as she could with her quiet voice. Shino and Kiba jolted, as if coming out of a stupor. But strangely enough, they didn't move. Not a single inch. In fact, they stood there calmly in the path of the log, waiting for it to crash into them. They stared at it, as if locked in some kind of trance. Hinata's eyes widened in shock.

"W-what in the world do you think you're doing!? MOVE!" Hinata pleaded, trying hard not to panic. But why didn't they move?! Any second now they were going to be hit by the log! Still, they just stood there, eyes transfixed upon the wood with fascination. With an annoyed grunt, she darted over to her teammates and threw herself into them as hard as she could. She was tiny, not big enough to move them both out of the way completely. Shino got clipped in the side on the way out, knocking the breath out of him.

"Now!" a gruff voice called from a nearby tree. In an instant, a shower of shuriken and kunai rained upon the three fallen genin.

The three yelped in unison as the sharp blades pierced through their skin. Some missed, but most of them landed gracefully upon their marks. They barely had the strength to deflect the ones that threatened their vital spots.s After a few agonized minute, the hower of metal ceased. Kiba groaned, and touched a hand to his forehead. Akamaru whined from underneath Kiba and wriggled to get free. In a last ditch effort to do something, Kiba had(gently) thrown himself over his little pup to shield him from the violent storm of shuriken. Shino tried to sit up. A sharp pain attacked his side from where the log had clipped him. With strong resolution, he forced himself to sit up and breathe. With another whimper, Hinata rolled over to get a better look at her teammates and see the damage.

"W-what...in the world...were you two...doing...?" Hinata gasped, lying beside her fallen team with blood smeared on her clothes. Shino and Kiba shook their heads furiously, trying to shake away the haze that clouded their heads.

"That log was coming...and...you just...sat there and..._hack!" _Hinata cut off, spitting some blood out of mouth. Shino and Kiba could provide no answer for her. Instead, they stared dumbly, unwilling to believe what just happened. One minute they were on top of the world, and the next they were lying on ground in shock. Their breaths came in shallow gasps. Blood flowed freely from open wounds. But..it wasn't really happening. They weren't _really _hacking up blood and struggling to sit up...were they? The stinging pain from the gashes they received didn't _really _exist...did it? It was some kind of illusion, or maybe a...

"A genjutsu..." A cold voice chuckled darkly from behind a nearby tree. Sensing the danger, cell #8 clumsily rose to their feet and stood in a triangle formation. Their backs faced each other, so each one of them could safely scan a different direction. With shaking hands, they each grabbed onto a kunai and pointed it in the direction they were facing. The dark voice chuckled again, sending jolts of fear down their spines.

"You're friends fell victim to my genjutsu, little one. They didn't move because they couldn't." the voice spoke up again, softer this time. Kiba growled and clutched his kunai tightly. He didn't like the sound of this. The man speaking to them was obviously older than them all, and probably more skilled. Akamaru perched on Kiba's head, shaking with fear but trying to look brave.

"I guess you we're the only one who didn't fall into the illusion. I wonder why..." the stranger spoke the thought out loud, a tinge of amusement playing in his voice. Hinata swallowed nervously, and tried to back up closer into the triangle. Her instincts were positively screaming at her to get the hell away from there. A few tense moments of silence passed. Shino paused, then opened his mouth to form a question.

As if sensing the movement, another four bladed shuriken shot out from the darkness. Shino's instincts told him told him to reach up and deflect it with his kunai, but his actions were dull and clumsy. He ended up missing. The four pointed blade lightly cut across his cheek before smacking into a tree behind him

"Oh, my apologies. I was aiming in between your eyes. I suppose I missed." the man laughed lightly, thoroughly amused with his little game. Shino furiously shook his head, and reached up his hands to perform a hand sign. Obviously, his mind was still partly clouded from the genjutsu.

"Kai!" Shino said quietly, but with strong resolve. Instantly, the haze cleared and he could see freely again. Dimly, Kiba was aware that he should probably do the same thing.

"Kai." Kiba repeated, though he didn't sound as confident as Shino did. Another few moments of silence passed. The group sighed in unison, and wondered if it was safe yet. It wasn't. Growing bored, the stranger casually took a step out from behind his hiding place. Slowly, he came out from the shadows just enough for the team to get a good look at him. Shino stiffened. His amount of chakra was _frighteningly_ huge.

A pair of cold, icy blue eyes scanned over Shino with a calculating gaze. The man wore his hitai-ate slightly off to the side, partly covering his right temple. The sign for Takigakure (waterfall village) was barely visible amidst his shoulder-length midnight blue hair. His outfit was simple; a long black shirt with a single baggy black sleeve that covered his hand. The other sleeve was torn, barely hanging on by a few loose threads. Underneath his shirt, he wore a black netted shirt much like Anko's. His pants were black to match and equally baggy; though they were not too long like his sleeves. His kunai pouch sat comfortably on his side, and his shuriken holster by his left thigh. A katana was held securely on his back. Somehow, his outfit seemed terribly plain and simple for someone possessing such breathtaking beauty. If Hinata wasn't in her current state, she might have even thought the young man was very handsome. But his good looks could not drown out his aura of malice. With a small smirk, he extended a long, pale finger in Kiba's direction. Kiba visibly flinched.

"My my, what a strong looking young man. If I didn't know better, I'd say you we're the _leader _of this little team here." The man smirked, putting emphasize on the word "leader". Kiba's eyes narrowed at him. Even in a state of shock and fear, he did _not _like being mocked.

"Well, if I we're you young man, I'd do some leading right now. Incase you didn't realize, you are about to lose much more than those scrolls you've been carrying around..." he chuckled softly, pulling out another shuriken. "Of course, you could always be a good boy and tell your teammates to surrender them right now. If you're lucky, maybe we'll be nice and let you live." he continued, absentmindedly toying with the shuriken. Kiba growled, and tried to take a step towards the man. On instinct, Shino raised his arm and blocked his path.

"Do you want to die...?" Shino muttered to him, lips barely moving at all. The man chuckled again.

"If you don't hurry and comply with my wishes, then you'll be begging for death when I'm through with you." the stranger murmured softly, eyes gleaming brightly. Hinata wished she could positively melt into the ground and disappear from the forest of death. There wasn't even a need to raise his voice; a soft murmur was all it took to send waves of fear over them. As if hearing her thoughts, the man shifted his gaze over to the tiny kunoichi. Hinata temporarily forgot how to breathe.

"Sweet child, I do believe you have an earth scroll for me in your left pocket there, hm?" he asked politely, opening his hand as if to receive the said scroll. Hinata winced, and opened her mouth to speak; but Kiba spoke up first.

"And just how did you know she was the one holding our scroll?!" Kiba demanded; carefully posing the question to make it seem like they only had one scroll. That way, even if he managed to snatch up one, at least they'd still have the other. The man smiled, amused by Kiba's angry little outburst.

"I've been tracking all three of you for quite sometime." he said quite simply, with a casual shrug of the shoulders. "It's not like it was hard. You weren't exactly being careful. Oh, and yes. You boy, with the sunglasses. I'll be wanting that heaven scroll too. One's simply worthless without the other, wouldn't you agree?" the man questioned calmly, though his gaze didn't leave Hinata. In a rare act of aggression, Hinata narrowed her eyes at the man; determined to hide her fear. The man cracked another smile.

"You poor child, I can see you shaking from here. Don't worry, just simply hand over the scroll and I promise I won't hurt a single hair on your precious little head." he said in a sickeningly sweet voice. Hinata said nothing. She merely closed her eyes. When she opened them up again, veins we're running across her pale skin around her iris eyes. If her glare had been even just a little scary before, it was sure to look terrifying now. Even sweet little Hinata can look aggressive if she had to. Timid or not, she was a pure blooded main branch Hyuuga. The man blinked in surprise, and let out a few dark chuckles.

"Such aggression coming from such a timid looking girl." he said lightly, taking a small step towards the group. "Allow me to restate that sentence." he said coldly, suddenly becoming quite serious.

"Give me that scroll right now and I _won't _kill your precious teammates." he growled, reaching into his shuriken holster again. He now held two or three shuriken in-between each finger. Kiba and Shino stiffened. Hinata's breathe caught short in her throat. The man didn't seem like he was joking. And somehow, she doubted that he lacked the ability to mow them all down quite swiftly and effortlessly. He smiled again, patiently waiting for her answer. He held out his free hand again.

"It's okay, don't be afraid. Just be a good child and hand it to me." he said calmly, though the evil glint in his eyes did not vanish. Hinata choked, but refused to move. She wasn't gullible enough to fall for such a simple trick. Walking over there and handing over the scroll would surely mean her death. When she didn't make a move, the man hurled another shuriken; this time at Kiba. It missed again, but it did tear away some of the fabric from his jacket. Kiba jumped, startled by the attack. It was so quick, he didn't have the chance to see it coming.

"Oh my. I've missed again." the man said dully, patience leaving his voice. "How utterly clumsy of me. How much longer will I continue to miss my mark...?" he questioned in a dark tone, slowly walking towards the group. "There's no reason to be so scared child. If you really don't want to hand it to me, then put it on the ground and psuh it over. Just a tiny little kick is all it would take." he said, stopping about ten paces from the group. When the group made no efforts to move, he smiled at them again. "I'm waiting..." he murmured softly, staring at them expectantly and waiting for his mind games to take effect.

Hinata forced herself to breathe calmly, and reached a hand to her pocket. Would he really kill them...? Hinata pondered for a moment; and concluded that he can, could, and would. Forget the scroll! This man was crazy! He would kill her precious teammates without batting an eyelash. Then what would she do? Her life would be over! How could she live without Kiba and Shino there to brighten her life? If she handed over the scroll now, at least she could live to see tomorrow with everyone! Kiba, seeing the motion, reached out and gently grabbed Hinata's shaking hand.

"Don't." Kiba murmured, squeezing her hand tightly. "You can't trust what he says. He's the enemy. He may very well just kill Shino and I anyway. And you too for that matter." Kiba said softly, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. Hinata gulped, looked into his deep brown eyes, and slowly nodded her hand. Kiba was right. The man sighed and folded his hands across his chest.

"And here I was hoping to get through this without any bloodshed. Oh well. I don't mind. It's been awhile since I've seen fresh blood." the man said maliciously, hand twitching like it wanted to throw the shuriken it held. "Your fate's decided. You'll all be dead in just a few moments now." he said simply, as if he wasn't talking about ending human life.

Kiba snapped. He had enough.

"You're so arrogant it makes me sick!" Kiba spat at him bitterly, releasing Hinata's hand to grab another kunai. "What makes you think your so damned special anyway?! Even if you attack us, its not like we're going down without a fight! Who the hell do you think you are anyway?!" Kiba snarled, Akamaru barking furiously on top of his head.

He had no reaction for Kiba's outburst. He didn't flinch, didn't smirk, didn't raise an eyebrow.

"That's a rather pointless question to ask for someone about to die." he said flatly without a hint of emotion. In an instant, the man dived for Kiba.

_"He's fast..."_ was the only thought Kiba had the chance to formulate before a strong kick was delivered to his head. Hinata and Shino barely had the chance to leap out of the way and not get caught in the cross fire. Kiba's head throbbed painfully as the man threw back his arm to throw a punch. Dazed, Kiba clumsily reached up to catch his fist. He pushed against the stranger's hand in an attempt to shove him away. The other man was obviously much stronger though; he didn't give in an inch.

Desperately, Kiba swooped his leg underneath the stranger in attempts to trip him. The man stumbled, but quickly regained his footing. In a swift motion, he stomped down on Kiba's foot. Kiba yelped in pain.

The man didn't give him a chance to react. In a swift and graceful motion, he jammed his fist deeply into Kiba's solar plexus. Breath immediately escaped Kiba's lungs. He doubled over in pain, unable to defend himself. Akamaru barked furiously, but refused to leave the spot on his master's head. If he attacked without orders, chances are he'd get in the way rather than help. A barrage of punches followed the first, and the man ended the combo with a strong kick to the side. Kiba went flying a few feet before landing painfully on the ground. Grunting in obvious pain, he fought to sit up. He had to do something, or he was going to die.

In a few quick strides, the man met up with Kiba again. Smirking, he lifted his foot up and smashed it hard into Kiba's soft stomach. The bitter taste of copper arose in his mouth. Choking, he rolled over and curled into a tight ball in attempts to shield himself. The stranger kicked him in the side again, forcing Kiba to lay on his stomach. One last time, the taki nin lifted his foot and brought it down on Kiba's back. Kiba yelped, blood splattering out of his mouth. The man ground his foot in to Kiba's back, refusing to let him up.

Akamaru growled furiously, and sank his fangs into the man's ankle, orders be _damned_. Cursing, the man lifted his foot and shook it around wildly, but Akamaru refused to let go. Snarling, the man reached down and smacked Akamaru on the head. Hard, but not hard enough to crush his tiny skull or knock him out. Dizzy, Akamaru let out a small whine and released the man's ankle and stumbled backwards. Hearing his tiny pup yelp, Kiba immediately fought to sit up.

"Akama-!" Kiba's cry was cut short as the man stomped down on his back again. Grinning sadistically, the man reached into his pouch and pulled out a kunai. The man raised it high over his head, an insane look in his eyes.

"My name is Seidou of Takigakure. Though I doubt you need to remember it seeing as how you're about to die." Seidou hissed, ready to bring the blade down on Kiba's vulnerable neck. Kiba grunted, and squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

Hinata was the first to jolt out of her shocked stupor.

"Don't you dare do a thing to him!" Hinata shouted as loud as she could, dashing over to Seidou at full speed; Byakugan activated, and kunai's in hand. Amused, Seidou turned to face the furious girl. Hearing Hinata's voice, Shino also jolted back to reality.

"Hinata, wait a second! HINATA!" Shino called after her, unsure of what to do. Hesitating, he summoned up a storm of bugs and began to formulate a plan. If he didn't do something, he was sure they we're all doomed.

Furiously, Hinata kicked at Seidou's left side, hoping to knock him off Kiba. Arrogantly, Seidou started to dodge, then froze. It was a feint. Instead, Hinata reached up her right hand and dug her kunai in his shoulder as hard as she was able to. Seidou gritted his teeth, and pulled back. Snarling, he glared at the defiant kunoichi. Hinata was immediately at Kiba's side.

"Kiba! Say something! Are you conscious?!" Hinata pleaded, rolling him onto his back and shaking him slightly. Kiba groaned, and gave a small nod of the head. Relieved, Hinata attempted to help him sit up.

"Hinata, what are you doing?! Pay attention!" Kiba yelled, grabbing her by the wrists and yanking her down the ground. Kiba grunted in pain upon the collision of Hinata's body against his own. The kunai that Seidou had thrown flew harmlessly over Hinata's head and planted itself into a nearby bush. Not missing a beat, Hinata was back on her feet and turned to face Seidou. He had pulled the sharp blade out of his shoulder, and had his hand planted over the wound. If he was in pain though, he didn't show it. A small smirk played upon his lips.

"Such a sweet girl. You obviously care very much for that boy. I wonder how you would react if I really did kill him...?" he questioned smoothly, trying to get a rise out of Hinata. It worked. Glaring angrily, she ran up to Seidou again and resumed the heated battle.

Though Seidou attacked furiously, hand to hand combat was Hinata's forte. She easily blocked all his punches and quickly retaliated with her own. But Seidou was no pushover either, and was able to deflect most of Hinata's jyuuken attacks. They seemed to be locked in a standstill; neither were able to land a punch or throw a kick. Sweat poured over Hinata's face. Her breathing became shorter and faster. Seidou blocked another attack and tried to land in a hit of his own. Hinata dodged it, though she did it clumsily.

"Poor sweet child." Seidou sneered, effortlessly blocking another barrage of punches from Hinata. "You fight so very hard, and you do possess some skill. However..." he continued, grabbing her wrists and pulling them out to the side. Hinata gasped. "I have much more stamina than you. Looks like this will be your grave too." without another moments hesitation, he kneed her swiftly in the gut. Shuddering from the pain, Hinata stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. Seidou was about to go in for another attack, when Shino finally decided to put his plan into action.

"You won't hurt her like this." Shino said in a voice of deadly calm, finally regaining enough of his composure to battle. Seidou smirked, obviously amused by Shino's defiance.

"And _you _obviously care very much for thisgirl. What an intresting situation."

Before he had the chance to make another snide remark, Shino closed in and delivered a palm strike to Seidou's throat. Shino's speed had caught him off guard, and he barely managed to pull back in time to make the blow less fatal. It still hurt though, and the man doubled over to regain his breathe. He thought he felt his esophagus crack a little, and breath was harder to draw. His head was spinning a little bit. Yet strangely enough, Shino was not coming in for another attack. After a few moments, Seidou stood up, shook his head, and was shocked by the site that greeted him.

A swarm of bugs skittered on the ground, forming a small circle around him. Slowly, gradually, they inched in closer and closer to Seidou's feet. Hinata, Shino, and Kiba stood proudly on the outskirts of the circle with weapons in hand. Each of them had a small grin of their own playing upon their lips. True, they were bloody and tired, but now they had the upper hand. Shino was especially pleased with the with the outcome of the battle.

"They aren't just any bugs you know." Shino said in an a-matter-of-fact sort of way. Seidou raised his eyebrows, looking genuinely curious. "They'll swarm over you and drain you dry of your chakra." Shino elaborated. Kiba nodded smugly with agreement. "And while their doing that, the three of us will be making quite a mess out of you." Shino smirked, thoroughly satisfied with the blank look on Seidou's face.

"Heh. Who's grave did you say this was again...?" Kiba asked coolly, playing with the kunai in his hands. "Ours you said...?" Seidou didn't reply. He merely stared at the bugs with a blank expression. "Looks like you're the one about to die. Well that's just too bad for you."

"Who's the poor child now...?" Hinata said in the most serious voice she could conjure. Kiba almost sniggered at her idea of a threat. It wasn't very menacing, but it was definitely a start for her. The bugs were almost upon Seidou now, hissing and clicking with anticipation. Seidou looked first at the bugs, then to Shino, to Kiba, and finally Hinata. At first, his face held very little expression. But gradually, a sadistic smirk broke across his face.

After a few seconds, he began to chuckle.

It gradually got louder, and Seidou began to shake his head in amusement. He doubled over clutching his stomach; trying very hard to cease his laughing fit. Kiba's expression immediately dropped, and was replaced with a grim look.

"I fail to see the humor in this situation." Kiba growled, glaring at Seidou warily. Seidou laughed again, put a hand to his temple, and managed to compose himself enough to form actual words and sentences.

"You children are the humor." he chuckled darkly, bringing his hands up in front of him to make a simple hand sign. Tori. Sign of the bird. Completely and utterly basic, and yet...

"You're finished."

In that simple gesture, Seidou confirmed the end of the battle. Focusing intently, a huge wave of bright blue chakra emitted from his feet. It was a frighteningly strong amount, just as Shino had sensed earlier. It easily swept the bugs far back into the forest, taking team #8 with it. With a sickening crack, each respective genin collided hard into a tree of their own. Waves of pain swept up their spines, causing them to cry out in alarm and agony. A stunned expression remained plastered on Kiba's face. How could he have knocked them back with such a simple attack...? Was this man even really a genin...?

"Are you guys..._hack!"_ Kiba choked on his words, spitting up a fresh wave of blood from his mouth. Head swimming with confusion, Hinata looked up to her friends. She tried to nod her head affirmatively, but could not find the strength to do so. She tried her voice. It was frozen. Shino managed to wave a hand, but god only knows if he was indicating his well-being or his pain. Kiba gritted his teeth and prepared to sit up. Shino and Hinata looked like they had enough. He had to do something, he had to-

In an instant, two large forms dropped from nearby trees and landed with a loud thunk. Despite their size, they were quick. Before anyone had the chance to react, Seidou's teammates were immediately upon Kiba and Shino. With grim smiles on their faces, their strong hands clamped around their delicate throats and pinned them firmly to the tree. Hinata jolted out of her haze and fought against the pain.

"L-leave them alone...!" she sputtered, struggling to rise to her feet. Her legs convulsed violently, and she fell back down to her knees. Kiba bit his lip so hard it drew blood. Hinata tried again, and managed to get on her feet this time. Seidou grinned sadistically at the small girl whom could barely stand up. So she really wanted to save her teammates. How utterly precious.

"Did you honestly think you could win..?" Seidou questioned in a poisoned voice, slowly approaching the trembling kunoichi. Despite her shaking, Hinata's eyes flared with anger. Her teammates were being choked, and she couldn't do a thing. She could hardly stand. A quick tussle, a careless toss into a tree, and now she was spitting up blood while fighting to remain conscious. What was left to do...? What could possibly be done to make it better?

"Mmm. You do have my sympathy you poor children. It was just bad luck you ended up fighting us." Seidou shrugged casually, watching his two teammates. The one holding Shino had abandoned the grip on his neck. Instead, one hand was ensnared in his hair and yanking his head backwards. The other hand was rummaging around in his deep pockets in search of the scroll.

"Found it Seidou." the man said gruffly, holding out the first scroll to show his prize. Seidou snerked with obvious satisfaction.

"Good. Hang on to it for me, will you Zangai?" Seidou asked politely as he refocused his attention to Hinata. Zangai shrugged, nodded his head, then casually threw Shino off to the side. He let out a soft grunt upon hitting the hard ground for the third time that day. He rolled over as if hoping to get up, but Zangai firmly planted his foot into Shino's back.

In desperate need of oxygen, Kiba had dug his sharp claws deep into the third man's wrist. It drew a steady stream of blood, and did cause the man to relent his grip. However, it also earned Kiba a swift kick to the gut. Too weary to fight back, he allowed himself to be picked up by his collar and tossed off to the side like Shino; only he was sent flying a lot farther. Hinata winced and closed her eyes upon seeing her battered teammate. She probably didn't look much better than they did. She did not open her eyes until she felt a cold hand brush under her chin.

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes to come face to face with Seidou. He had a curious expression on his face. A grin twisted with malice and pity. It was not a good combination, and ended up looking like a confused sort of scowl. No matter. In a desperate attempt to do something, Hinata reached a hand into her kunai pouch. seeing the action, Seidou easily snatched up her wrist with his free hand. He dug in his fingernails. Hard, but not hard enough to draw blood.

"Child, I do believe it's quite obvious you have all lost." he breathed softly, giving her a taunting grin. "Your teammates are beaten and have lost a lot of blood. You've already lost your first scroll. I'll offer this one last time: Hand over the scroll and I won't lay a finger on you." he said in a tone that Hinata almost dared to believe.

But she was no fool. She was not going to get out of this without harm. If she was going to go down, it might as well be with a fight. A pitiful one maybe. Just a simple tug of war with a scroll. But a fight none the less. At least she could now say she fought until the end. Seidou understood the look of resolve in Hinata's eyes.

"Alright then. Tetsu? Kill the one with the sunglasses." Seidou ordered without any remorse. Hinata drew in a sharp intake of breath. He wouldn't. Slowly, Tetsu pulled a simple knife and yanked Shino's head back by his hair again. Shino grimaced and fought the urge to elbow the man in the gut. He would only be bringing his own demise upon himself sooner. In a delicate motion, Tetsu brought the blade to Shino's exposed skin and cut a small line. It was shallow, just deep enough to let a few drops of crimson trickle out. It was merely a simple warning cut. And Hinata took it.

These men we're serious.

A scroll was definitely not worth Shino's life.

"STOP!" Hinata shrieked, terrified that they would end his life any moment. Blinded by tears of sorrow and frustration, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her scroll. "Don't do it! You can have the scroll! It's not worth it! Just take it!" Hinata pleaded, pushing the scroll in Seidou's face. Tetsu immediately ceased. With a malicious grin, Seidou's hand reached up greedily and snatched up the scroll. Inwardly, all three of the genin winced. They had now lost their scrolls...

And at this rate, they were going to lose much more.

"Thank you sweet child. As promised, we'll leave you with your lives." Seidou said in a calm voice, patting Hinata gently on the head. Swiftly, he stood up and turned to face teammates. His sickeningly sweet nature was quickly replaced by an aura of malice.

"Make sure they don't follow us. And meet me in base #3." Seidou said simply in a formal and business like tone. With one last sadistic grin, he darted off into the thickets of the forest leaving his teammates behind.

"...Dammit." was the last word Kiba had the chance to utter before a kick was delivered to his gut.

It wasn't even a fight. It was more like a beating. A cruel, vicious, and unnecessary beating. Like lion upon their prey, Zangai and Tetsu showed team #8 no mercy. None of the genin were able to fight back. They could do nothing but lay quietly and try to keep drawing in breath. In, out. In, out. Stand the pain. Live. Keep breathing.

A cold, sharp kunai pierced through skin and shed waves of crimson.

A well placed kick was delivered swiftly and shattered ribs.

Shuriken tore through flesh.

This wasn't really happening, was it? It was all just a dream right? A terrible, terrible dream that Kiba wanted to wake up from. Another shuriken planted itself into his arm, sending up sharp pangs of pain. You can feel pain in dreams, right...? Or was it the other way around, Shino wondered, as he felt his injuries swelling rapidly. Hinata could have sworn she felt pain in a dream once as she collided with the tree again. So they we're obviously dreaming.

It was simply impossible. One minute, they we're riding on cloud nine with two scrolls tucked securely into their pockets. And the next minute, they were being tossed about with the taste of copper and dirt fresh in their mouths. How can such a transition take place? Isn't that the kind of thing that only happened in anime?

Hinata cried out as the same spot from earlier was hit again. It was a tender spot, a spot where muscle connected. Wincing, she raised up her hands to soften whatever blow was coming next. Eyes squeezed shut, she prayed it would be over soon.

Dimly, Shino was aware that the barrage of attacks had ceased. What was happening now...? There was a kind of...murmuring noise. Oh, right. Talking. Tetsu and Zangai were talking about something. And that meant they _weren't _attacking them. Shino sighed and closed his eyes, hoping that it was finally done.

Grunting, Kiba rolled over and allowed Akamaru to crawl out from underneath him. Like last time, Kiba had used his body to shield his little dog, though he did not come out unscathed. Akamaru whined, licking sadly at his injured leg. So, what was happening now...? Tetsu and Zangai had stopped talking and were...walking away.

A few moments of silence passed. No one dared to moved. Pain did not allow them to. It tore though their bodies, keeping them pinned firmly to the ground. Tentatively, Hinata opened her pale eyes to see what was going on.

Tetsu and Zangai had left. They were alone now.

Slowly, Shino tried to get to his feet. He was dismayed to find out he couldn't even kneel. He could hardly lift his head. Miserable looks were etched into the faces of cell #8, giving them a haunted look. Still in disbelief, they all merely stared at each other with blank eyes.

What were they going to do now...? Here they lay, bloody and beaten whilst struggling to breathe properly. Slowly, the state of shock shattered. Team #8 realized the hopelessness of their situation. Not only could they not move, their scrolls were gone. They continued to stare at each other with unreadable faces.

A plan. They needed to formulate a plan. They needed to regroup and keep trying. But how..? How was anything possible now..? With a deep, shuddering breathe, Kiba tried to call out to his teammates. He could only let out a pathetic croak. Hinata's eyes welled up with tears at the sound of it. She had never heard Kiba sound so utterly helpless.

As if someone flipped a switch, team #8 began to move. Weakly, they summoned their last amounts of strength they possessed to crawl towards each other. Their bodies burned with the effort. Though they were only a few feet away from each other, it felt as if they had to crawl miles to meet each other. Kiba grunted and forced himself to kick his legs forward. It was working...sort of. They were making progress.

Halfway there. Blood dripped from their injures and mixed in with the earth. Shino tried hard to focus. His mind was rapidly sliding in and out of consciousness and he found it hard to stay awake. But he simply had to finish his journey. He had to get to his friends. Hinata carelessly crawled over a small stone. It dug itself into one of her injuries, but she paid no attention to it.

Almost there now. Just a little bit closer and they would be in the comfort of each other's company. Kiba paused for a moment to take in some deep, ragged breaths. Akamaru whined in sympathy, willing his master to keep fighting. So close now. They could almost touch each others hands if they wanted. Just one more good push forward and they could make it. Shino's legs shook violently and almost refused to propel him forward any longer. But he couldn't stop now, it was _so damned close. _Just a bit more...

And in unison, they all flopped down beside each other in a straight little row. Shino on the left, Hinata in the middle, and Kiba on the right. Panting with exhaustion, they all reached out to touch each other. Everyone was there right..? They may have been severely injured, but at least they were by each others sides now. With a shaking hand, Kiba reached up and gently pulled a shuriken out of Hinata's shoulders. It hurt, but what did she care? She was throbbing all over.

Everything hurt. They had never been so completely aware of pain before in their life. Mourning in silent sorrow, they reached out to each other and removed the various shuriken and kunai. Seeing the weapons be removed from their flesh was a sad sort of comfort. Once they had removed every last weapon, the reached out to grab each other's hands. Hinata held Shino's left hand with her right, and her left held clenched Kiba's clawed one tightly. Shino and Kiba obviously could not reach out to each other seeing as how Hinata lay in the middle, but they were comforted by the fact that they were nearby. They squeezed each other's hands tightly, as if to assure themselves that it was all over now and they were together.

Sad, bitter tears stung at Hinata's eyes. This wasn't fair. It wasn't supposed to be like this. They we're supposed to be at the tower right now, celebrating the first part of their success. Kiba was supposed to be cheering and ranting on arrogantly; while Shino was supposed to be trying to hide his obvious pleasure. Hinata was supposed to be relieved and cuddling Akamaru tightly. But they were not at the tower. They lay on the cold, hard ground with various wounds and injuries. Kiba hadn't the strength to cheer. Shino had no pleasure to hide. Hinata could not reach out to cuddle Akamaru.

Feeling blank and emotionless, cell #8 found themselves staring up at the clouds much like Shikamaru always did. In that moment, they kind of understood why he always did. The clouds really did look free and comforting. How they longed to be back on their little cloud nines instead of lying in the dirt. Now, they had no idea what to do except squeeze each others hands tightly and pray. A heavy haze had slowly made its way upon the three little genin, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay awake.

They knew they would soon fall asleep. True, they were actually going to pass out, but it was more comforting to think they were just going to sleep. Hinata dearly wished she could say something; anything. She wanted to make everyone feel better. Wanted to wipe away their pain and injuries. But now, she couldn't even swallow the lump in her throat to call out their names. Shino took in a deep breath and sighed, releasing some of his tension with it. His eyelids were becoming quite heavy, and he wanted to close them now. Kiba reached out with his free hand and struggled to pull Akamaru closer. It pained him greatly, but he wanted to do it. With one injured hand, he lifted him up and put him on Hinata's chest. Akamaru whined with sympathy and nuzzled at Hinata's battered face. Hinata dared to let out a small, sad smile.

_"Animal's sure are nice, aren't they...?" Kiba asked absentmindedly, picking at the end of his shoelaces. "I've heard that the moment someone places their hand on an animals fur, their stress level immediately decreases." Hinata's face emerged from the top of Akamaru's head, cheeks tinged pink._

_"I agree." Hinata chirped, continuing to snuggle with Akamaru._

Hinata chuckled a little at the memory from earlier. Even in her battered state, it was still true. The weight of Akamaru on her bosom comforted her and made her feel more reassured. Sighing deeply, she closed her pale eyes and didn't open them again. In one last ditch effort before falling unconscious, she managed to call out to her teammates. The sound of her voice gave them strength, and they managed to call back softly. Then one by one, they slipped into a black oblivion.

Bloodied.

Bruised.

Completey and utterly defeated.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

**A/N: **...Well I never said it was going to be a _nice _story. I'm sorry for the crappy ending. I never was really good at emotionally moving scenes. But I tried. It's not _too _bad. Okay, okay, I know. I owe you guys a huge apology. Not only did I torture poor little group 8 this chapter, I haven't updated in...what...two months? Three months? Maybe even more? I don't know. I'm sorry. I have no excuses. Granted, my life has been kind of hectic lately, but I guess it's no excuse. Hopefully I'll never take this long to update again.

Okay, ya. You don't need to say it. I know the ending was disappointing and utterly depressing. But don't worry! When cell #8 is knocked down, they bounce back twice as hard, right?! Next chapter they're going to make a glorious come back, and everything will be happy again. So please don't worry. Argh, now I need to go type up chapter two of my other story. Sorry guys, gotta get that chappie out of the way until I can start working on Chapter VII. I hope this chapter wasn't too disappointing for you guys. Just don't send me tons of hate mail, kay? It upsets me so. So...jya! See you all in chapter VII! If you decide to keep reading that is.


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